Wolf Moon
by KatietheKlutz
Summary: When Florida Girl Liz moves up to La Push, she gets more than she bargained for. An imprint, an accident...and lots of fun with our favorite wolves! Paul/OC Characters of the Twilight World belong to Stephanie Meyer. Not me.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Wind blew my hair as I rode, stuffed between a bunch of fragile moving boxes and carry-ons, in the back seat of my father's bright red convertible for the last time. I enjoyed the feel of the sun, warming my fair skin- it was as though the sun had come out just to say goodbye to us. I knew I wouldn't be seeing much of it at our destination, on the La Push reservation, my father's hometown. The thought depressed me, and I shoved it out of my head. No need for those thoughts. There were more important things to think about. Like how I was going to survive without my best friends, Ellie and Sarah. Or how my dog, Casey would survive the trip in the moving van. Or when my brother Charlie would come back from Iraq.

Up in the front, I heard my brother's name, and I tuned in to the conversation between Alex and my father.  
"…between this tour and the next one, he'll be gone for at least 10 months," Alex was telling my father.

"He must be off on something awfully important I was never out for this long in a row." His voice seemed indifferent, but it didn't fool me: I knew there was something brewing beneath the surface. Pride, most likely. My dad was thrilled to have a _son_ that could follow in his footsteps.

"Well, if what he said last night is true…"

"Charlie called last night?" I broke in, excited from hearing the news. As soon as the words were out, I bit my lip and kicked myself for speaking as the two voices in the front seat fell silent. I could taste my father's disapproval from the backseat. It wasn't a conversation that I was meant to have paid attention to, let alone respond to. Military life was supposed to be foreign to me- for my "own good". I simply figured he was trying to forget the shame of having a daughter who could not go into his division of the Corps.

We never go out as a family…I consider this a good thing. Because everytime we do, I am confronted with the same ridiculous notions that my father seems to carry about the female "Place in life". If one can't go in to the Corps, after all, they are useless. They cannot protect their country, and certainly wouldn't die for it. Therefore, they should not be allowed to express their opinions about anything, particularly political. IF they don't care enough to sacrifice themselves for it, then _clearly_ they can't have any.

At school, when I'm around my friends or even my brother, I'm quite outspoken. But once my father comes home, my life becomes a completely different picture. It's not as though he's ever outwardly mean or cruel…he certainly would never lay a hand on me- but it's absolutely stifling. His presence waters me down. I suppose I must be genetically programmed to try and please him or something, because every time he enters the room, I try to become the perfect daughter. Some might call it fear. I call it love.

And I know he loves me. At least, I know he tries his hardest to. It really isn't his fault; despite his qualms at having a daughter, I'm sure he could have managed it if my mother hadn't died while giving birth to me.

Alex barley remembers her too. Charlie filled me in on some details of her before her death, and the rest I've filled in myself. I know she was smart- her Harvard diploma told me that. Summa Cum Laude graduate. And she went for my _father._

According to Charlie, my father used to listen to her. He remembers falling asleep to the sound of an intense political debate between the two. And while she was around, the food was incredible. Apparently she worked as a part time chef while my siblings were growing up (why she did that with a Harvard diploma, I still don't know), and meals were comparable to a 5 star restaurant. But it was my father who always packed school lunches. He put in just as much effort as she did.

I know he must have loved her very, very much. My grandfather was even stricter than my father (hardly seems possible) and to coax him out of such an environment must have been a daunting task. Still, somehow she managed. It's something I still have no idea how to do.

I've tried my hardest to make up for her as best I can. I have flawless grades at school, I cook dinner for him and my brother, I do the laundry and I keep the house in spotless order. And I know he really tries to appreciate it. It's just not in his nature to truly express his feelings, particularly to someone who has, albeit unintentionally, hurt him.

I was careful to keep quiet for the rest of the drive. I sat in the backseat without moving until my brother came around and let me out. I took his hand, and, once on my feet, straighten my sundress so that it hit my knees. All I carried was a purse: I knew any effort made to carry the boxes would result in another awkward silence and a painfully disapproving look.

I kept my eyes downcast, feeling as though I were stuck in an Austen novel. All they had to do was stick me in a corset. I smiled occasionally, at the nice man who bought my father's car, at the ticket teller, at the kind security man who checked my passport and gave me a wink. As we walked, I counted the seconds until I'd be out of his sight and finally able to relax again. The number was dismal, and I was glad

On the plane, I amused myself by reading a magazine, thankful that we all had different seats. Still, I wished I were closer to Alex- I really, really wanted to hear what Charlie had to say about Iraq.

It was a long, long flight. Still, it did not seem nearly as long as the drive to La Push- or perhaps that was just because I felt so anxious about getting acquainted to our new little town. I wanted to see the work that was cut out for me, what needed to be cleaned, washed. I wanted to see the room that, according to our real estate lady "was suited for me". Most of all, I wanted to see Casey, who had already arrived.

My impatience did no good, however: it took a long time for the cheap rental my father had gotten for "quite a deal" to get there. Exhausted from the plane trip, I began to nod off against the window, hoping that no one would notice.

Luckily, my father was so concerned with getting the items in the house that he let me sleep for a long while in the car. It was just as well: he would not have let me help anyway. I got out of the car, a shiver making its way through my body as the cold air and colder mist hit my bare shoulders. "I'm definitely not in Florida anymore…"

Still, the cool temperature and perspiration did not persuade me to join my family inside. I was mostly curious about the surrounding area- the yard, the woods and water behind it. I'd heard that we were on the Pacific coast. I was not so naïve to expect once of my beautiful, warm Florida beaches: I knew that here it would be rockier, denser, colder. _A beach is a beach_, I reminded myself. At least I would find myself near the ocean. I would have gone crazy without some small, sandy reminder of home.

I heard some distant voices, and realized that the moving people were leaving- the house had finally been set up. As I began to make my way back into the house, Alex came out. When he saw me, his face grew concerned. "What are you doing out here? In the middle of January? It's freezing! In the 40s, according to Dad. Here," he removed his own coat and placed it over my shoulders. "We put your clothes in your room…they're still in boxes, but I've only put the winter boxes up there. Make sure you find something warmer. I can't have my baby sister dying of hypothermia. I'll need someone to torment in high school"

I gave him a playful shove. "Oh shush. Come tomorrow, I'll be the most popular girl in school, and YOU, my friend, will be begging to sit with me at lunch."  
"Oh right? Who would ever wanna sit with you? My skinny, blonde sister. You do realize that we are going to a predominantly Native American highschool?" He nudged me, tugging at my long, blonde hair, "We'll stand out like sore thumbs"

I rolled my eyes, unwilling to admit that his words had actually sent a tremor of fear throughout me. I really didn't know what to expect here. I knew that I'd stand out: I definitely took after my mother, way more so than my father. I was short: he was tall. I had much lighter skin. I was blonde, and his hair was nearly black. I had green eyes, and his were brown. The only thing that marked me as his daughter, besides our fairly similar facial features, was a birthmark on my shoulder.

I wondered if this would make it hard to make friends here. From the pictures, nearly everyone took after my father's Native American heritage. Despite my proud talk, I'd always tried to stay invisible until I met a couple of friends. Didn't look like I'd be able to pull that one off.

"I'm going to change…" I mumbled, brushing past my brother into the new house.

Finding my new room wasn't exactly hard- it was, after all, the only room with small pink and yellow flowers adorning the walls. My father had set up a canopy bed for me, and the crisp white covering fluttered slightly as a breeze snuck in through my open window. Cursing the frigid air, I hurried across the room to close the window at fault: my hands shook as I pushed the yellow frame down, shutting it with a loud 'Crash'. Then, just for good measure, I closed the other one as well- I did not want to freeze to death in my own room.

Having ensured my own survival, I scanned the room quickly. The furniture was all there, but it was not my furniture, and definitely not the same items I had brought from home. The room looked like a New England bed and breakfast, or country inn- definitely not my style. The only thing I recognized from my old house was my mother's quilt and the boxes that carried my clothes, keepsakes and other essentials.

I heard paws behind me, and my face lit up as a turned around, "CASEY!" I didn't care that my shout shook the house. I didn't care that my father was probably trying to sleep, or that Alex would come up to quiet me. I threw myself at her, burying my face into her chocolate coat.

"Jeez, I missed you more than you know." Her tail thumped, and I felt comforted by the motion- she must have missed me too! I pulled back, and her intelligent eyes stared at me, "Yeah I know, what a trip right? Least you got to stay with your feet firmly on the ground and movers who must have been at least SOMEWHAT more normal than my father. They probably fed you treat after treat huh?"

At the word "treat", Casey sat up. I'd forgotten she still knew that word. "Ok, ok" I muttered, motioning for her to follow me. I could unpack later.

In the sunny yellow kitchen I found that my brother had already unpacked the dog's food. Instead of giving her a bone, I filled her bowl with food, "Dessert after dinner." I told her, placing it on the floor next to her bed.

At that point, Alex came back in the room, "Well, I didn't get any dessert, but will this do?"

I turned, a bit startled, to see him holding a pizza.

"Dad says he'll give us money to go food shopping tomorrow. In the meantime, I figured that this would tide us over."

I grinned at him, "You're the best".

He nudged me, "I know."


	2. Chapter 2

My alarm clock woke me much too early the following morning, and I shut it off. The air around me was frigid, and I absently wondered how much colder it could get before I froze to death, or at the very least, got sick from hypothermia. As I jumped out of bed, I resolved to get a pair of pajamas that were more than shorts and a T-shirt: I had a feeling that they'd be needed.

After running to my bathroom- my favorite part of the house, my own personal bathroom- I turned the shower onto the hottest setting, hoping that it could chase the cold away. Even though the shower was set on the hottest imaginable setting, I still shivered through it. Hurrying to get back into my towel, I threw shampoo and conditioner in my hair at the same time, making a mental note to turn up the heat after everyone went to bed. This whole freezing to death thing was not going to work every morning.

Cleaner, I rushed back into my bedroom. The dog looked at me curiously- I guess running in a towel must have been a funny sight- and I rolled my eyes at her.

Since I still had not unpacked from the night before, I had to dig through boxes in order to find something suitable to wear. I eventually found a pair of jeans, a white sweater and a blue knit vest. While not terribly fashionable, I figured that I'd at least stay warm. After drying and braiding my hair, I ran downstairs to find a sleepy Alex waiting for me.

"Morning sunshine" I greeted him.

"Shutup" He muttered, and my smile widened. Alex was always really grumpy early in the morning.

"Well, time to go!" I said, grabbing his hand and my backpack. He stopped short. "What?"

"Aren't you gonna eat breakfast?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "IS there breakfast?" He pointed to a box of granola bars. "Ahh…I see our wonderful father has bought us a treat." I took one, "Ok can we go now? I may actually kill you if you make me late on my first day of school."

"I'd like to see you try." My lovely brother muttered, but he lead the way to our old beat up green Honda Odyssey van that my father had shipped down, just for the two of us.

I sighed as I climbed into the front seat, wrapping the navy blue coat I had grabbed on my way out the door even more tightly around me. "Welcome to La Push…the world's largest icebox!" I sighed, and my brother shot me a smile for the first time that morning.

The drive to school was not as long as I feared it would be, nor was it terribly hard to find, which was good, because my GPS could not find a single satellite in the area. "It's official." I muttered grimly, staring at the "searching for satellites" symbol flashing across the screen.

"What's official?" Alex asked, as he pulled into a run down lot with a sign that said "La Push High".

"We have actually fallen off the face of the universe." Alex shot me a grim look as he pulled into the parking spot nearest a door labeled "Front Entrance." It was a funny sight- and not like any school I'd ever seen. The parking lot, filled with high schoolers, was right next to a playground, where La Push Elementary School was. It was all the same building, really, just divided into segments- high schools on one end, middle schoolers in the middle, elementary kids at the other end. I wondered what the total amount of students here was. There seemed to be less than my old high school. Much less.

It certainly needed to be renovated. I noticed that the playground was wooden, and the architecture reminded me of a Soviet Bunker. Ugly. I sighed again. "Look at this place. Progress dates back to 1802, the invention of electricity."

Alex burst out laughing, and I kept an expression of resignation on my face as he geared the car into "park" and removed the keys. A look at my face caused another bout of laughter, "Sorry, Sorry." He struggled to compose himself, and I rolled my eyes.

"Alright, my second, no, third favorite member of the family. Shall we get going to school?" I swung my backpack onto my back, and bounced out of the car, slamming the door behind me with as much force as my 5'2, 100 pound self could muster.

"Wait, so I'm only your THIRD favorite member of the family?" Alex looked offended. "You can't actually be putting me behind DAD."

"Of course I like you better than Dad. I just don't like you as much as Casey or Charlie."

"That hurts sis, that hurts. I thought we had something SPECIAL between us." I was about to retort when I noticed that people were beginning to stare.

"Shut up." I muttered, turning red. I cursed myself for drawing any unnecessary attention to myself on the first day of school.

Alex looked as though he were about to laugh, but something about my face kept him quiet until we reached the main office.

"Can I help you?", chirped a tall, dark-skinned receptionist.

"Yes. My sister and I are here for our first day of school." His voice sounded strong, and he sounded ready to take on whatever was ahead of him. I envied him.

"Oh! You must be the Smiths. I'm Ms Potter. We've been expecting you." Her words brought a blush to my cheeks- so everyone knew we were here. "Alex and Elizabeth. Let me see…" she vanished behind her desk, and I could hear our receptionist ruffling through several sheets of paper, "Smith…Smith..ah! Here we go!" she popped up from behind the desk," Smith, Alexander and Smith, Elizabeth." She smiled as she handed over 2 pieces of paper,

"These are your schedules. Times, locations, instructors, etc. Our day has 6 periods in it, and each one is about an hour long. Let me get you both a map…" As Ms Potter babbled on, highlighting various routes on the map, I found myself overcome with anxiety. I'd never had to start a new school before. This was an experience for which I was not prepared.

After we got out of the office, Alex turned to me, interrupting my walking anxiety attack. "Where are you headed?"

I consulted my schedule, "Period One…Chemistry." I made a face. "Ew."

Alex laughed- we both knew my hatred for anything math or science related. "Sucks to be youuuu. I'm taking….Spanish. Yuck."  
"Oooo..I have Spanish too. Great. Just joyous…well, I can impress them with my all star language ability. Bonjour, class!"

"That's French, Liz."

"Right well…" A loud ring from the sky cut me off, and I jumped a foot and a half. My dear brother began to shake with laughter. "Thanks Alex. I love you too." Rolling my eyes, I began to head to my first class.

Chem was just as bad as I feared. The class was way ahead of me, studying something called Polymers. I didn't even know what a Polymer was, let alone how to define or classify one. I spent the class keeping my eyes downtrodden, attempting to avoid all eye contact. The only time I spoke to anyone was a brief introduction that the teacher- I had forgotten his name- forced me to do in front of the class. I hated the man already.

If first period was bad, second period was worse. Math was the only thing in the world I detested more than science. And the most detested of all my maths was Trigonometry. I HATED it. Every problem, every solution- it was all put there to mess with my head. And it worked. I left that stupid class with the biggest headache of all time.

Third period Gym was ok, but mostly, that was because our teacher was out so they showed everyone a movie called "Supersize Me." It was something I'd seen millions of times in Florida (and the reason I no longer ate anywhere near the Golden Arches), but it was a break that I was grateful for nonetheless. I actually had a conversation with a girl, Mary, sitting next to me- she was nice enough, but I found that talking to her- or talking at all- made me miss my friends back home more than ever. I needed a shoulder to lay my head on.

Lunch was fourth period, and, since neither Mary nor my brother would be in the tiny cafeteria with me, I decided to go to the library instead- I could always eat afterwards. Like at dinnertime.

Spanish was next. I had taken Latin at my old school- just my luck, they didn't offer it here. Worst of all, the beginning Spanish class was several steps ahead of me, something I learned from the moment I stepped into the classroom.

"Bienvenidos, clase!" Our teacher, Senora Ana greeted us. "Hoy es…Martes! Que es la hora?"

"Es periodo Siete." The "clase", minus a very awkward blonde (ahem, me) responded.

"Hoy es muy especial! Tienemos un estudiante nueva!" I had no idea what she was saying, but I noticed the students were staring at me. Expectantly. Like they were waiting for some all knowing Spanish speech on the meaning of life. Or at least my name.

"Um…Hi." I said, hoping that would be enough. Senora swooped over me,

"EN ESPANOL, POR FAVOR."

I stared at her, "I don't understand." I whispered. "I've never taken a Spanish class." She looked horrified, then whispered,

"See me after class." Humiliated, I sunk down in my chair, wishing that I could disappear entirely.

After class, I learned that Senora was not an awful person. At least, she seemed nice when she wasn't teaching. Once she judged that I was actually that behind, she just gave me a couple of handouts with basic, remedial Spanish vocabulary, and told me she'd give me a few weeks to get caught up with the class.

Finally, finally, it was time for my favorite subject: English. I loved English- it was the one subject I actually cared about. At home, I had been in an advanced class, but La Push didn't have anything like that, so I was stuck in regular English.

Still, looking at the syllabus brightened my mood a bit. It looked as though we'd be covering some Shakespeare, Austen, Dante…all of my favorites. I could not wait to take a look at the _Inferno_ again.

"You look excited" I was startled by a voice from next to me, and turned to see an absolutely gorgeous guy sitting next to me. His russet skin was complemented by deep, sympathetic brown eyes- a total contrast to his sheared hair. And his build- holy crap. I wasn't entirely sure what to think about that. The way he was muscled seemed impossible. _He must be taking some type of steroids. _I thought to myself.

I realized I was gawking at him, and forced myself to look away. _Idiot!_ I chastised myself. "I love Shakespeare." I admitted, "Call me what you will. There's no greater writer in the history of the English language. He takes British poetry to a whole different level of sublimity."

The guy looked at me like I had four heads, "Uh-huh. We have a word for you here."  
I didn't know if I should be offended or not, "What's that."

He grinned, "Nerd. But that's ok. I'm secretly in love with Dante. Shhh…don't tell anyone."

I had to laugh- 'nerd' was my friend Sarah's favorite word for me back home. "Ahhh…it's ok. Your affair is safe with me. Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

"That's good, because my friends would never let me live that one down." His laughter faded as he eyed me, "I haven't seen you around here. Which means that you must be new. Or previously invisible."

I smiled, "I'll never tell." I stuck out my hand for him to shake, "Name's Liz."

He took my hand, "Seth."

"Nice to meet you Seth." I sighed.

"What?"

"This brings the total amount of people I know here to…" I counted on my fingers, "5."

"Could be worse."

"Well," I sighed, "It's pretty bad."

"Well, who are the people?"

"You, some girl named Mary, my brother, my father and my dog, Casey." I paused. "Are we counting animals as people?"

A funny look crossed Seth's face, but it was quickly replaced with a grin that I was beginning to recognize as the central feature of his personality, "I think we'd better. For the sake of your total."

"For the sake of my total…." I mused. Just then, the teacher began class, and I was forced to tear my eyes away from the hot guy next to me and pay attention.

Class passed quickly- or maybe that was because I spent most of the time re-reading Shakespeare's _Macbeth_. Either way, I found myself exceedingly grateful to hear the bell ring. I gathered my stuff up, and said

"It was nice meeting you Seth" as I half ran out of the classroom. I could taste after school freedom, and, after an exhausting first day, I was definitely ready for a walk through the woods. Furthermore, Alex and I always had a race to the car- whoever got there first drove home. As hot as Seth was, I was simply more interested in getting home.

Despite my hurry to escape my academic environment, Alex still managed to beat me to the car.

"How do you do that?" I complained.

Alex looked at me as though I were crazy, "What are you talking about?"

"Escape school like that. I half ran here, and you still beat me."

"Liz, I have class right through there. Not exactly difficult."

"Oh…" Alex began to laugh, and I punched him. "Shut up! I'm exhausted. Can we please just go home?"  
"Sorry sis, but I promised Dad that we'd stop by the grocery store on the way home. Apparently we can't order in forever."

The thought of cooking again actually made me smile. It was a touch of home, an adjustment to our new town. Plus, I was actually getting quite sick of pizza.

The grocery store was nothing like I'd ever seen- nothing at all like the giant Publix I was used to. They offered only basic items, and didn't actually have a generic store brand. It was almost unnerving how easy it was to find stuff. And the staff were kind of odd…overbearing almost. They seemed to actually care about what you did, what you bought. _Small town, big gossip,_ I thought to myself. But then, what else was there to do?

Our trip had not taken nearly as much time as I thought it would, so I decided to make lasagna- my father's favorite- for dinner. It was not actually that hard to cook- it was the cooking time that made it kind of a pain to deal with. I set the timer on the stove, and went outside. For whatever reason, I was feeling very antsy, and had the need to move. I blamed it on my annoying first day of school.

So, I called out for my dog, "CAAAAASEY!" She came trotting down the stairs, a doggie grin on her face. "Wanna go for a walk?"

After leashing her, grabbing a coat, and putting on my winter boots, I headed for the door. "I'm GOING OUT!" I shouted to my older brother, just to be polite. I didn't expect him to actually respond.

"LIZ WAIT!" I stopped, and watched in surprise as Alex came running up behind me.

"Yeah?"

"Make sure that you don't go too deep into the woods." I opened my mouth to argue, but Alex held up a hand. "Look, I heard these rumors at school that there have been sightings of these huge wolves. I heard some outside my window last night. I could just be imagining things, and it might just be a rumor, but until I have found more information, I'd just feel a lot better if you stayed closer to the house."

I rolled my eyes, but the sincerity was apparent in his voice. "Fine, I'll just stay here. In the yard." I promised him. I had Spanish homework to do anyway, and it'd talk all night. A long walk was probably a bad idea.

Alex looked genuinely relieved. "Thanks sis…look, you don't have to cook tonight. I'll just order pizza again.:

I made a face, "Thanks, but no thanks. I've already started lasagna anyway. I honestly don't think I could stomach that much more pizza. Anyway, I've got homework to do…Espanol and all that, you know."

Alex laughed, "Ok, ok." He shook his head. "My nerdy sister."  
I stuck my tongue out at him and stepped into the freezing cold air.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day of school was better, in a way. I knew where to go, I knew where to sit, and I kind of knew my classmates. Mary and I spent the gym period passing notes about different shopping plazas in the area. Seth, the nice, and, I'll admit it, highly attractive boy from English even invited me to sit at his table for lunch. It made me feel like I was actually making friends.

It was also harder, in a way. I still felt as though everyone was watching me, and that made me very nervous. I still had to take Spanish- a language that I only knew a few words in. Senora was better though. She only embarrassed me once.

All in all, the day passed fairly quickly, and, thankfully, uneventfully. My brother and I were still something of a novelty, but people seemed to be much more interested in talking to him- he was definitely the more popular of the two of us.

Before I knew it, English was wrapping up. Since we had finished lesson early, our teacher was letting everyone do homework. Most kids were just talking though. As for me, I was on the edge of my seat, in an attempt to beat my brother to the car.

"You're awfully jumpy." Seth commented. "Just like you were yesterday at around this time. Is staying in school that torturous for you?"

"Yeah, well, my brother and I have kind of a race to get to the car…it's like sibling rivalry or something. Whoever gets back to the car first drives home. Since Alex tends to drive like a maniac, I prefer to get there ahead of him. Doesn't always work, though."

He cracked a grin. "Nothing like sibling rivalry to get one's blood boiling."

I pretended to look shocked. "Sibling rivalry? No, no. This is much more than that! My safety is at stake here!"

"Well, if it's your safety…" The bell rang and he stood up much faster than I would have thought possible for someone of his size

"Thanks, Seth," I laughed. He helped me gather up my stuff, and walked out to the car with me.

As we stepped into the glum rainy day outside, I heard an older man call out for Seth. Automatically, I turned too- I have no idea why.

Standing there, I saw the strangest group of men. They were all wearing cut off jean shorts, and no shirts, despite the awful winter chill in the air. I wondered if they were cold.

And they were all built the same: broad chest and shoulders, arms that could probably rip me in half quite easily. And tall too: at least as tall as Seth. Huge, in comparison with myself.

The man on the right caught my eye, though he was really just the same as the rest: same shirtless body, eyes practically hidden from sight. He looked at me with an expression that I couldn't quite read. It confused me- his gaze was so intense that I felt he could see beyond my eyes, and into my very being.

As though he were reading my mind, he turned his face away. The eldest of the boys took him by the arm, and he disappeared into the woods. Seth from English class stared, an expression of slight horror shadowing his face. "I've got to go." He muttered darkly.

I stared as he disappeared into the woods behind the men.

That was the first night I heard the La Push wolves.

The next day, school could not get over with fast enough. Science dragged on and on- I swore, another repeated lecture on polymers and I might actually explode-as did Trig and Gym. Though I tried to convince myself that it was the sunny weather outside making me antsy, I couldn't be fooled. I wanted the day to rush by so that I could talk to Seth about his 'friends'. I had a need to know about the strange boy from the parking lot.

I had spent the night before tossing and turning. It wasn't just the wolves, though I gave Alex credit for actually being right about something, but it was more of the fact that I had been thinking of a certain person. I kept replaying the moment in the parking lot over and over again, trying to recall every detail of his being, his every curve. And his eyes…the fire in them, the burning desire, the utter intensity of his gaze. The abruptness of which he was forced to leave.

And this was weird. Very weird. I'd never spent much time dwelling on the male race. And now, here in the middle of class, I couldn't get a boy that I'd never seen before out of my head.

I spent my free period in the library browsing old yearbooks- there was no way I'd be hungry for lunch. I tried to convince myself that I was getting acquainted with the La Push culture, or that I just needed to be alone for awhile. In reality, I knew I was looking for whats-his-face. But he wasn't in my class, or the class before me. It wasn't until I flipped open my second yearbook that I found _him_. Paul Young. I mused the name over on my tongue. Paul, Paul, Paul. A graduate of La Push High, as of last year.

I felt mildly pleased with myself as the bell rang, signaling the start of Spanish. Which was ridiculous, because I also felt like a bit of a creeper- I didn't know what had gotten into me, stalking a guy I'd never formally met.

It was hard to concentrate in Spanish, and by the end of the class, the teacher had simply given up on my terrible verb conjugations. Personally, I thought I was improving. In just two classes, my Spanish knowledge had gone from 2 words to about 20. And theater was downright torture. I had to keep my eyes down the whole class, because there was no way that I was going up in front of an audience that I wasn't comfortable with.

Finally, _finally,_ it was time for English. I literally ran to class, ignoring the fact that everyone was probably staring at the crazy new girl. I supposed it was a little too fast, because I got there just as the other class was leaving.

When the door finally cleared, I sat down in my usual seat, bouncing up and down as I waited for Seth to enter.

I had meant to ask about them casually, to simply bring it up in conversation. But my eagerness got in the way, and, the second Seth walked into the room, I blurted out, "Did those men from the parking lot get sick?"  
He looked confused. "What are you talking about?"  
"Those guys we saw. Yesterday. You went with them."

Seth laughed good naturedly, understanding now, "Yeah, those are my buddies. You saw Embry, Sam and Paul." The name sent flutters through my heart, and Seth grinned widely…almost as though he could hear it. _Does he know about my huge crush? Oh my God! What if he tells Paul!_

Seth had continued talking through my agonizing, "And no, they don't get sick. Quilletes have great immune systems: we're built for cold like this. They're pretty nice guys. Hanging around the res, helping out with the Elders- it's a pretty good position here."

"Oh, is that why they're not at university?" as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I wished that I could take them back. Cursing my lack of tact, I watched, embarrassed, as Seth scrambled for the right words,

"Uh no…see, it's really important here. We have a lot of…culture to protect."

"I see." We phased into an awkward silence as the teacher began some discussion on Shakespeare.

After class, Seth insisted on walking me to my car, where, interestingly enough, Paul was waiting. "Hey Paul!" Seth greeted his friend. He did not look at all surprised to see him there.

I, on the other hand, was astonished. "Hi…"

"Hi Seth!" Paul's expression was surprisingly bright, especially compared to what I'd noticed the say before. He seemed…happier. His gaze , though intense, was not as crazed as it had been before when I had last seen him. Much less scary. I could feel my strange little crush swelling.

"Hey Paul," Seth greeted his friend giving him a punch on the shoulder. I noted his tone of voice: it seemed resigned. "This is my friend, Liz. Liz, this is Paul."

Paul extended his hand, and I took it, a spark of electricity radiating through me. It wasn't just that his had was just as warm as Seth's had been- I supposed they must be brothers or something- it was…I couldn't even identify what it was. That confused me: normally, I was so good at being on top of my emotions. And his eyes….smoldering with an intensity that I could not place. It was something in the family of protection: almost possession. Something that was akin to love.

Seth cleared his throat, and I awkwardly took my hand back, realizing that we had been holding on for a long time. My cheeks felt like they were burning.

"So…" I said, in an awkward attempt to break the silence, "Any good plans for this…"

HOOOOOOOOONK! HOOOOOOOOOONK! I jumped about a foot and a half and whirled around towards the source of the noise. Annoyed, I noticed my older brother sitting behind the wheel of our car. "That boy has no patience." I muttered, then turned to Seth and Paul, "Apparently, I have to go. Nice meeting you, Paul."

As I turned to go, I noticed that Paul was shaking from head to toe. His formerly happy expression had changed…it had been replaced by something that looked like fury. I frowned as I hurried into the car and slammed the door shut. I turned around to see Seth and Paul, sure that I had imagined the fury, but they had already disappeared into the woods.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thank you so much to those who reviewed! It meant a lot to me :-) Here is a (short) reward :-P**

That afternoon was bad. After making constant fun of my "infatuation" with the La Push "boytoys", on the ride home, Alex decided that it would be fun to follow me throughout the house, making a running commentary of everything that I was doing.

"And here the AMAZING ELIZABETH, is walking up the stairs. OH LOOK! She's taking her backpack off….oh ladies and gentlemen, I don't believe it, she's…setting it on the chair…and….unzipping it…WHAT WILL WE FIND INSIDE?"

"Shut up loser." I muttered under my breath as I pulled out my planner to check out the weekend assignments. I figured I might as well finish it all now: get it over with, rip the bandaid off quickly…that kind of thing. I hoped that my brother would take the hint and go annoy Casey or the neighbors or something.

Alex seemed to be immune to glares, the silent treatment, cursing, and all the other millions of tactics I tried. Still, I could tell he was getting bored when he stopped running a commentary and started stealing all of my things.

"OOOO…WHAT IS IN LIZZIE'S UNDERWEAR DRAWER!" I rolled my eyes,

"Real mature, Alex."

"Hey, this doesn't look like underwear! This is…a box! WHAT COULD BE IN THE BOX, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"

At the word box, I froze completely. "Alex…stop. This is not funny anymore. That stuff is private and means a lot to me. Can you just put it down and leave me alone?"

"Ooo..someone doesn't know how to have funnnn…I think we need to see what's INSIDE OF IT!"

That did it. I snapped. "ALEX! I HATE YOU! GIVE THAT BACK!" he swung the box away, laughing maliciously. I could understand that he thought I was joking: He had done this before- hair products, etc, and I had acted angry. But I was not pretending. The box held some vital collectables, and I was not about to see them ruined. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?"

Still laughing, Alex dodged me and ran out of my bedroom, into the bathroom, locking the door behind him, me right on his heels "LETS SEE WHAT'S IN HERE, SHALL WE SIS?"  
"DON'T OPEN IT! DON'T YOU DARE OPEN IT!" The box cracked open. My anger faded completely, replaced with hopelessness. I began to cry as Alex's chuckles stopped. Next thing I knew, the bathroom door had unlocked, and he stood awkwardly, holding a photograph of my mother in one hand and my diary in the other. On the back of the photo was a letter to her. The letter was something I had updated every birthday, telling her how we were as a family, how much I missed her, how much I wished I could have known her.

"Liz…I'm…I'm so sorry." He was shaken. Good riddance. So was I.

"Leave. Me. Alone." I managed to choke out, running into the backyard.

And I just kept going. I left the backyard, heading into the woods beyond the house. I couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything, couldn't feel anything. But that was the point. I didn't WANT to feel anything. I needed to forget.

I stopped abruptly when I found myself standing by a cliff and curled my toes over the edge, thinking for a moment at the fun sensation of flying before the impact into the water. But, of course, this was not Florida water, and my rational half knew I'd probably die of hypothermia.

The thought sent me into hysterics, and I began laughing and crying at the same time. I was about to step back, when, all of a sudden, someone lifted me up and carried me several yards back, away from the face of the cliff.

At first, I thought it was Alex. "I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE ME ALONE, OK? I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL, YOU DON'T NEED TO HIDE ANYTHING. HELL, NOW YOU KNOW EVERYTHING. AND JUST BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW HER DOESN'T MEAN THAT I DON'T MISS HER EVERY MINUTE OF EVERYDAY, JUST LIKE YOU DO. JUST LIKE DAD DOES. SO WHY DON'T YOU JUST.." Somewhere in my screaming, sobbing rant, I realized that I had been pulled into a hug. And that the hug was far too warm, too tall, and too buff to belong to my idiot brother.

Awkwardly, I looked up to see…Paul? "Oh….sorry." I hurriedly went to brush my tears away, but his hand stopped mine.

"Don't be." He muttered quietly, using his finger to brush my cheek. He pulled me back into his chest. "It's ok"

And just like that, I was sobbing all over again. I found myself telling him all about my family, my mother, Alex's little trick today- everything. Everything from the past 17 years just spilled out of my mouth, all the pent up emotions.

Paul didn't do much- it was as though he knew exactly what I needed- to get everything out. Instead he held me to his chest, and, as the story dragged on, pulled me into his lap. Though at points, I felt him begin to shake as though he were seizing- a startled look from me always brought them to an end- he managed brushed away my tears, one right after the other.

It seemed like it took hours, but finally I began to regain control over myself. And then I began to feel embarrassed. And then horrified. Because, really, what type of person just unleashes themselves onto a complete stranger? Paul, whose mere name still sent chills down my spine, probably thought that I was a complete nutcase.

"I am so sorry." I apologized, unable to look at him. Then I realized that I was still on his lap, and my cheeks began to burn. "I don't know what came over me. I swear, normally I'm quite…well, normal. I just…" He put a finger to my mouth.

"Liz. Stop. Why are you apologizing?" The look on his face was both confused and angry.

"For completely losing control?" He seemed to find something funny about my words- His mouth, which had been so worried, turned upwards, and he gave a few silent chuckles. "What's so funny about that?"

"Nothing…I'm just used to being the one who loses control, that's all." His words were sincere, and said lightly, but I could tell there was something important behind them. It sounded like worry…or pain. I wondered just how much Paul had lost control to make him sound like that. Or on who his control was lost.

I tried to keep my response light, "Oh, I suppose you just burst into tears and cry all over someone you've barely even met." My words caused him to stiffen. I looked up, and, before he could compose his expression, I caught a glimpse of pain in his eyes. Pain didn't even seem a strong enough word. Perhaps agony would have been more fitting.

"No, but I have had a problem with my temper. I've gotten better though." His eyes locked on mine, and they were serious, "But I would never, ever do anything to hurt you. I couldn't. Do you understand?"

His words were so intense that I momentarily lost the power to speak. So I just nodded, unwilling to look away from his gorgeous face. "Good."

We sat there for a moment- me, huddled against his enormous chest, staring into his eyes; he, cradling me in his arms, looking at me as though I were some very precious part of him that he had only just discovered. It sent thrills through my body.

I don't know how long we sat there for. I just remember looking away, and being shocked to see that it had become dark out. "Alex will be worried." I muttered, gazing at the skyline. I caught a momentary glimpse of pain in Paul's eyes, and added, "My brother worries about me a lot, you see. He may tease me, and occasionally push my buttons, but he cares." I was delighted to see his expression relax at the word "brother".

"Well, we'd best not keep him waiting." Paul picked me up, and in a moment, the two of us were standing.

"What are you, Superman?" I asked him, staring in disbelief.

He looked confused, "Huh?"

"You just stood up with me in your arms. It's hard enough for most people to stand up on their own, let alone with another full body weight there." He smiled,

"You're not exactly heavy weight, Little Miss Midget."

"Hey! I will have you now that I'm exactly 4 inches above the legal height of a midget, thank you very much."

For whatever reason, Paul found this hilarious. He couldn't stop laughing, and had to put me down to steady himself. As soon as he did, I began to notice the cold weather, and the fact that I wasn't wearing a jacket. I began to shiver.

Paul stopped laughing immediately. "You're cold." I shrugged,

"I'm just used to Florida weather, that's all."

At once, he picked me up and cradled me to his chest. The heat radiating off it warmed me quickly, "Better?" I melted inside at his concerned expression.

"Much, thank you. But you're so warm. Are you getting sick?"

Paul rolled his eyes, "Nah, my family and I have always run high temperatures."

"Ah yes, a genetic anomaly." I told him. His eyes tightened onto my face, and the superstitious part of my brain began to think that there was something more to Paul than met the eye. But I pushed that thought out of my head. Clearly, I had been reading way too many sci-fi novels.

"Home sweet home." He told me suddenly, setting me on the ground. I looked up, and we were standing on the edge of the woods. I could see my house through the trees.

"Oh," was all I could manage. Truthfully, I had been hoping to spend more time with Paul. I looked up at him, trying to keep the disappointment out of my eyes. His expression was similar, and he looked as though he was trying to say something. "Do you have something to tell me?" I asked playfully. Paul's face turned a fantastic shade of red and became quite jumpy.

"Well, you see...tomorrow night, a bunch of us are going to a bonfire…do you want to go with me?" The words were rushed, but the sincerity was there.

I absolutely beamed. "I'd love to."


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for the reviews :-) I really appreciate them :-) Here's another chapter...hope you all enjoy it :-D**

Back in the house, I was not at all surprised to see Alex pacing back and forth, a nervous wreck. Since I had left Paul and darted for the house, I had begun to feel the wet and the chill, and started shaking. The overall discomfort did not encourage forgiveness.

"Jesus, Liz! You scared the shit outta me! I thought you'd been killed, that you'd run into a wolf. You didn't take a phone, you don't know the area…and…you're not wearing a coat? What is this?" He snapped, sounding angry.

"You are not my mother." I responded coldly. "I would have thought that your little peak into my little box might have proven that."

His angry expression faltered. "Look Lizzie…I am so, so sorry I opened it. I don't know what I was thinking…." I crossed my arms and glared at him. "Liz, please. You worried me to death here. You are my little sister. You're the only one who's ever here in this depressing household. If anything happened to you because of something I did, I would never, ever forgive myself. Neither would Charlie or Dad."

I choked on that one. "Good one Alex." But still, my angry resolve faltered, and I found myself warming to my older brother. "Ok, Ok, I forgive. Just stay out of my stuff from now on."

"Deal." We shook on it. Then I noticed that I was covered from head to toe in water, and shivering.

"I'm going to go take a shower, if you don't mind."

"Before you do…" My brother was pondering something, "Look, I got invited to a party tonight. It could be a fun way to get to know the townies- you know, outside of school. I think I owe you this much, to make up for ruining your Friday afternoon.'

I snorted, "Alex, I'm not going to a party where I don't know anyone. Besides, there'll probably be drinking. And really, I'm not in the mood for a party. It's been a hectic week…I really need to rest, you know?"

Alex nodded, "Well, ok…but you're missing a good time!"

"Right." I snorted.

While on my way upstairs, the phone rang. I raced to it, heart pounding. I had to laugh at myself just a little. I was getting all excited over the very prospect of some boy calling the house. The whole thing was a bit ridiculous. But, somehow, Paul had that effect on me.

"Hello?" I answered the phone, breathless.

"Hey!" A voice I would know anywhere crackled through the phone. It wasn't Paul- but it was definitely the next best thing.

"CHARLIE!" I half shouted into the phone, feeling excited in spite of myself. Charlie had managed to get a hold of a phone in Afghanistan- or wherever he was. They didn't exactly tell us that.

"If it isn't my kid sister! How are you, Lizzie?" He sounded remarkably cheerful for someone living in a desert.

"Cold and kind of wet. How about you? How's the desert?"

"It's a party out here! Been a rough week though; lots of different, erm, things to do." He laughed at himself. "But hey, at least it's interesting, right?"

I grinned, "I suppose you can't say what you're up to, right?"

"Sorry little sis. Until you become head honcho over at the CIA and gain top secret clearance, I'm afraid I'll have to keep you a little bit in the dark."  
I sighed, "Yeah, yeah yeah. I was just hoping for a story. You know, to distract me from the fact that I'm living in the most boring place in the world."

Charlie chuckled. "Aww, come on sis, it can't be that bad. Dad seemed to love the place."

"He would" I muttered under my breath, "You need to see this place for yourself. Any word on when they'll let you go?"

"I have a week off in a couple of days, but I'm not sure if I can snag a flight back to the states. Depends on if my buddy Palmer over there pulls through. But I'll do everything I can to come see y'all. You have my word on that."

"Can you pinky promise me, Charlie?"

I heard some scratching on the phone, which I took to be my older brother's pinky. I raised my to the phone too. "Is that alright, sis?"

"Perfect. Thanks Charlie." There were some beeps at the other end, and I could almost hear my brother talking to someone else. Then his voice again,

"Hey Liz, I really wish I could stay on the phone longer, but my unit's been called for a meeting. I need to get there. Say hi to Alex and Dad..though, I suppose you'll have to wait on that one."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, confused.

"Well, since Dad's at a conference in Seattle this weekend, you're not going to be telling him right away." I frowned,

"Who told you that?"

"Dad did. Two nights ago. This can't be news to you?"

"Yeah, it is." I sighed as I heard more talking over the other end of the phone, "Oh well, we'll figure it out. Be careful out there, Charlie. Love you."

"Take care of yourself sis. Love you too." And, just like that, the phone disconnected.

I felt kind of sad once Charlie hung up: the way I often felt after talking to my faraway brother. Back when Charlie had first deployed, and the school sent me to some psychiatrist to make sure I was still normal, I found out that that was a normal emotion. The phone call, of course, is a source of great happiness: it confirms the well-being my brother. But every time I have to let him go, I wonder if it's the last time I'll hear his voice. And that makes me very sad, and worried.

To help distract myself, I decided to cuddle up with a blanket and finish my homework while it was quiet and peaceful. It took much, much longer than I expected: it was nearly 11 by the time I finally closed my book. I was still antsy from my crazy day, so I decided to go with my original plan and hop into the shower.

My shower was exactly the cure I needed. It broke away the stress of the day, leaving me relaxed and exhausted. I stayed under the hot water for a long time, just contemplating my new life.

He was strange, this Paul kid. Very intense. Scary, even. That much I knew. It was almost as though he were a different species, or something. He looked normal, but the way he acted, the way he spoke: it was as though he were several years older than he pretended to be.

And then there was his physique. He was HUGE! I'd never seen anything like it- it was a body that athletes would kill for. I didn't even know if you could get it via steroids. It was just _strange._

He was dangerous. Something about the way he carried himself made me feel as though he could rip me into pieces with no problem. If I were smart, I'd probably stay away.

But I couldn't bring myself to do that. I couldn't simply stay away. And that was wrong. Dangerous, even.

Suddenly exhausted and re-stressed from all my fretting, I turned the water off and wrapped myself in a towel. After I was thoroughly dry, I pulled on a pair of warm sweats- all I wanted was to be comfortable.

Just as I was climbing into bed with my favorite copy of _Pride and Prejudice_, my phone rang. After glancing at Caller ID, I unwillingly picked up,

"Rideeee….I think I Lizee you." Alex's drunken voice greeted me, and I suppressed a groan. Right. The party. I should have known that he would use it as an excuse to get completely wasted. I supposed, at the very least, he did have two days to recover.

I sighed. It wasn't like he was capable of driving home himself. Judging by the tone of his voice, I was actually surprised that he'd had the idea or the coordination to call me. And it wasn't like I could call my father to do it either. He'd headed up to Seattle for the weekend, according to Charlie.

"I'll be there in a half hour. Do not move. And for God's sake, do not touch your keys or get into the car until I arrive." I instructed.

"You the best sissyyy." He slurred his words, and I fought back a laugh as I hung up the phone.

After pulling an extra sweatshirt over my head, and grabbing a hat and some mittens, I headed down the stairs. Alex had left a note detailing the location of the party-he thought I'd change my mind. Still, I was grateful for his mindset- I didn't want to be driving around to every party in the tri city area.

After typing the address into my father's GPS- I figured his son's safety was enough of an excuse for me to borrow it- I pulled on my brightly striped rainboots and headed over to our garage.

It wasn't until I reached the garage that I saw a potential problem. Alex and my father had taken both cars. I had no enclosed vehicle. Nothing to get there with. I glanced over to the side and saw my bike. "You've got to be kidding me…." I muttered to myself "He's not worth it"

But he was my brother, and possibly the only person I lived with who gave a damn about me. And the party was only about 3 minutes away according to GPS, which meant 10 minutes on my bike. So, begrudgingly, I strapped on my helmet, kicked up a kickstand, and started down our long, dark driveway, thanking my father for- in a moment of good grace- installing reflectors and a headlight onto the bike.

The 10 minute ride was cold, to say the least. At least it was somewhat bright out- the wolf moon, the full moon of January, lit up the dark streets so that I could almost see in front of me. The rain permeated my sweatshirt, and I cursed myself for not putting on a windbreaker, and the cold seeped into my gloved hands, and I wondered if the extra layer of fabric was doing any good at all. Between wondering if I'd have to amputate my fingers due to frostbite, I entertained myself with thoughts of my brother's hangover. I'd be sure to break out the foghorn I found in the garage for some 5 am cheer.

The thought cheered me, and I began to laugh to myself. Alex HATED getting up early.

The GPS directed me to turn onto a tiny street- it seemed too dark, even in the light of the wolf moon. Unwillingly, I did, hoping that it was the last one. I felt a bit unnerved, and I quickened my pace on the bike. Trees came from every direction as the road turned left, then right, then left again. I wondered if I was on some sort of sadistic rollarcoster.

Suddenly, a pair of lights swung around the corner. As they neared, I wondered what such bright lights were doing in the middle of the street. And they were moving too. _What kind of streetlights move?_ I wondered. Then it hit me, and everything went black.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thanks for reviewsss! :-) They make me feel like someone's actually reading this XDXDXD**

**And sorry about the cliffhanger: but here's a short chapter to tide you over :-D**

Much to my dismay, I did not stay unconscious long. Rather, I awoke to an odd state where there was nothing but pain. I could not speak, I could not move, I could not even breathe. There was just pain, everywhere. It stabbed at me, in every possible area. How could I still be alive with this much pain? More importantly, how could this much pain exist?

Beyond the pain, I began to notice lights. I wondered if my body was rejecting the feeling of so much pain. There were lots of lights. And people. There were so many of them. Some next to me, trying to convince me to speak. I tried to open my mouth. Nothing came out. Frustrating.

I was aware of a voice, shouting "Miss? Miss? Are you ok?", and of someone asking me for my name, and searching for ID. It seemed a great irony now that life had chosen for me to forget my license today. Normally I was so good. My Dad had taught us that identification was key- when I was younger, my brothers and I were forced to wear dogtags, just in case. He gave up on that when we all got our licenses, and just told us to carry those around then. He'd be so disappointed if he were here right now… I felt like laughing then. Leave it to me to worry about my license, and my father, on my death bed…or, more accurately, death road.

Suddenly, I felt sicker. Death road. I realized my words were true. I was…dying. Like my mother. I supposed I'd see her soon. But it was wrong. Very wrong. I had too much time left. There were things I wanted to do! I had places to go, people to meet, a bonfire to attend…I couldn't understand it. It was so unfair. I wanted to cry.

And Paul. I wanted to see him badly right now. Almost more than I wanted to see Alex or Charlie- it really was confusing. I wanted to hold his hand again, to feel his arm around me. But he wasn't here, of course. There was no way he could be. He certainly had no way of knowing.

The mood swings, brought on by utter pain, went unnoticed by everyone. Of course they were. It was all in my head. I wondered if I was going crazy- this would be enough to spark such a thing.

Time, of course, had stopped. Seconds felt like minutes, and the minutes turned into hours. They lifted me onto a stretcher, and I heard words like, "possible skull fracture" "might be paralyzed" "will be lucky to survive the night". I wanted to be concerned about their statements, but found myself unwilling, or unable to care as I gratefully sank into unconsciousness a second time.

When I woke again, there was so much white. It surrounded me. But this couldn't be Heaven. It was much too clean, too sanitary and too impersonal to provide any real sense of comfort. And what wasn't white was made up of glass- there was an entire wall of it, through which I could see a white, but hectic hallway. And everyone seemed as though they had somewhere to be: they were all running somewhere, shouting. And beeping. What kind of person beeped?

The situation bothered me- surely they could see in? If this were Heaven, shouldn't there be more privacy? I didn't like everyone looking in at me like that. And I hated to beeping. If this was Heaven, I was so going to have a talk with God about that. Otherwise, eternity was going to be very long indeed.

The second thing I noticed was the fact that it was day time, and that I could feel a certain amount of pain- in fact, I felt like I was in a lot of pain. Confused, I tried to sit up, but was greeted with a very sharp pain in my head. Before I could move another inch, a stiflingly hot hand pushed me back to the bed. "Easy there."

It was a voice I'd know anywhere, even thought I'd only actually heard it on two separate occasions. Ignoring the pain in my head, I turned to see Paul sitting next to me, an indescribable expression on a face that seemed to be carved in stone. It was the face of a man who had suffered for several centuries, the face of a man who had lost something worse than life, who had been tortured until life had no more meaning. "Paul?" My voice sounded awful, as though I had not spoken for several years. It felt that way too…talking was a strange thing. I tried to remember the last time I had said anything. I remembered that night, on the road and shuddered, taking a breath. That extra breath sent a sharp pain somewhere into my chest, and I struggled to suppress it enough to concentrate as Paul began to speak.

"I'm here Liz. It's ok. You're going to be ok." It sounded as though he was trying to convince himself more than me. "You're going to be ok." He repeated, and I detected joy in his voice that had not been there before. Better yet, the ghost of a smile reappeared on his face, and hope lit a small fire in his eyes.

"What…happened?" I ignored the pain- it was worth it to hear his voice.

"You were in a car accident. Some jackass hit you with a freaking car." He spoke the words with such venom. But I'd already known about the car accident. I had another question.

"What…did…it do to me?"

"The worst? You suffered a punctured lung and a small skull fracture." I found it almost difficult to understand him- there was a pain in his voice that made it sound as though he were choking on the words. There was worry in his voice beyond anything I'd ever heard. And his eyes…indescribable. There was no more hope- Paul looked as though he had actually lost the desire to exist. It was terrifying. I wanted to tell him to calm down, to stop worrying, but, before I could muster the strength, he continued, his voice sounding as though his very soul was on fire.

"Your 5th and 9th ribs have cracks, the 8th is broken entirely. You broke a leg and your wrist, and are pretty bruised up in general. They had you in emergency surg…surgery," he choked the word out, "for about 7 hours when the brought you into the hospital, and weren't entirely sure you'd…make it through the night." At that, his words choked off, the hand left mine, and Paul was across the room, shaking from head to toe. I couldn't see his face, and this terrified me. Because no way should Paul be suffering like that over something as silly as this.

"Paul?" I managed to choke out a second time. In an instant, he was back to my side, whatever expression composed. He took my hand, face riddled with anxiety,

"What's wrong? What can I do? Do you need a nurse?"

His words sent my head spinning and I held up a finger in my good hand, happy to discover that the motion caused no pain. "Calm down. Where… is… Alex? My father?" I said the words in one breath, ignoring the pain. I really wanted to know the answer.

He relaxed slightly, though the anxiety never really left his eyes, and began to stroke some hair very gently away from my face.. "They left to get some sleep. I don't think your father left until this morning. He has stayed next to you nearly as long as I have."

"What?" I nearly shouted. The action caused enough pain to take my breath away, and I closed my eyes, silently screaming. Paul took one look at me, and started shaking and shouting for a nurse. His hand left mine, and a different touch replaced it. This bothered me, but only for a second, as a thin pinprick allowed me to sink back into my unconscious state.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks again for the reviews! And, yeah...I like cliffhangers. A little too much :-P**  
**Review again if you can! I love to hear from you :-) I'm not kidding when I say that it makes my day! **

The next time I woke, I was in a different place. Many of the monitors were gone, and I was off oxygen, from what I could tell. The walls were wooden, opaque, instead of the transparent glass I'd seen during my brief awake spell in the other room. I was grateful for the increase in privacy, at least.

Paul was still next to me when I awoke, and I gave him a big smile when I saw him, squeezing his hand tightly. I was about to say something, probably mushy and ridiculous, but he pointed to the other end of the room.

Standing on the other side of my bed were my father and…Charlie? "CHARLIE!" I half shouted…and noticed that the action only caused a little bit of pain. This thrilled me. "How'd you get away from Iraq?"

My brother stroked my hair. "Hey there sunshine." He smiled. "I took an emergency leave of absence. Everyone understood…and I think that's a first for the military. But enough about that…you're looking pretty good. How do you feel?"

"Like I got hit by a bus..oh no wait, never mind. I don't feel quite that bad. Must have been a car then."

Charlie and Paul groaned in unison, "Liz, I see that the crash hasn't affected your sense of humor in any way. It's still as bad as ever."

"Hey! I think I'm quite funny, actually, thank you very much." There was a pause, and while Charlie and Paul were attempting to control their laughter, my father made his way to my bed.

"Hey Lizzie," he murmured softly, brushing hair out of my face. I stared at him in shock. My father hadn't called me Lizzie since I was a baby.

"Hey Daddy." I said, suddenly feeling very small. He didn't say anything else, just continued to stroke my hair until a doctor entered the room.

"Hi everyone." She said, glancing around. Everyone else must have known her, because they all responded with "Heys" and "How are yous" I just stared.

Paul looked at me, concerned. "Do you remember her at all?."

"Umm…should I?"

"She's been your doctor for the past week and a half."

"Oh."

The Doctor smiled. "It's completely normal to have some sense of memory loss after such a trauma. My name is Dr. Jenkins, Liz. I've been taking care of you. And right now, I'm afraid I'm going to have to examine you, and I think you'll want some privacy." She looked pointedly at the three men standing around me.

"Translation: Shoo." Charlie laughed, as he grabbed my father's arm and led him out of the room. Paul followed, eyes growing more and more anxious as he got further away. I waved him on, even as a hole began to make its way into my chest: I did not want him to leave.

When they had left, Dr. Jenkins began undressing me. "You are much, much better than when you first came in here." She told me.

I grimaced. "THIS is better?" I indicated my bruised and broken body. I was almost curious, in a gross way, to see what had happened, "What do I look like, anyhow?"

The doctor laughed. "You mean under the mountains of gauze? I'd say probably pretty gross. On the upside, they shaved your legs before surgery…they were smooth when they put them on."  
I laughed with her, but then stopped abruptly, "Wait…you always shave before surgery, right?"

"Yes, that's the procedure…what on earth is the matter?" she asked, somewhat alarmed as I attempted to reach my broken arm up to my head.

"Do I still have hair?" I asked, beginning to hyperventilate. The doctor pushed my arm back then reached into the back of my head and pulled out several golden locks.

"There you go little miss goldilocks. Most of your hair has remained on your head. We did have to shave a little of the left half, to put the skill fragments together correctly. The impact mostly had concentrated around that left side; you were very lucky."

I immediately relaxed, "Any other permanent damage?"

She frowned, "Aside from healing? I'm a little concerned about your uterus- it seems as though it was damaged in the accident. I can't say for sure, but it seems severe enough that you may not be able to have children for quite awhile, if at all."

I didn't know what to make of that statement. Though I'd never really thought about it, I suddenly realized that I did eventually want children. I felt suddenly sad at the prospect of that being snatched away.

Dr. Jenkins changed the subject. "I want to check your ribs now, if you please."

I allowed her to push into my back. I gasped- her simple touch caused a wave of pain to run through my body. "OWWWW.' I half shouted. That hurt, too.

"Your ribs are still in a precarious position: I'm going to have you wheeled to X-Ray later this afternoon to check up on how they are healing. I also want to take a look at your leg and your skull." She grinned, "They probably know you by name now."  
I thought about that for a moment. "Does this mean that I'll turn into some sort of X-Ray monster, you know, from the all radiation. Cuz that might be kinda fun, not gonna lie."

She laughed, "I don't think so…"

I sighed, feigning disappointment, "Too bad."

As Dr. Jenkins continued her exam, I took the time to actually look at myself and survey the damage. I couldn't see my head, but I knew the left side was wrapped in gauze and partially shaven. That was ok. I could deal with that as long as I had most of my blonde hair remaining.

I could feel some scrapes on my chin and nose, but that seemed to be the extent of the damage on my head. I looked down at my body: my neck did not have a brace on it- this was promising. At least, it meant that I wouldn't be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of my life. I hoped.

My chest was completely bandaged, but it looked like everything was in the right place. I felt kind of sad again as I looked down- I assumed it was a feeling that would not go away overnight.

My left leg actually looked pretty good- there was a piece of gauze across my knee, but other than that, it was in-tact. The right was another story- an ugly cast extended all the way to my mid-thigh. That would be annoying. How was I supposed to use crutches?

I looked to my arms- the right was only covered in gauze, but there was a fairly large cast on the left one. It was an ugly beigeish yellow- such a boring color. I wondered if Alex would bring me markers to spice it up.

_Alex._ I had forgotten him, what with everything going on. Where was he? Had he driven himself home? Was he in this hospital too? Or worse…was he in a funeral home or graveyard? Surely they would have told me…but then, he would have been here if he were ok…

I felt my heart rate rise- the monitor began to go crazy, some sort of alarm started going off, and a couple of nurses came running in with the emergency cart. I heard someone screaming at Paul to stay back, and then saw him through the corner of my eye.

The doctor came to my side immediately, "Liz, what's the matter? I need you do tell me where you are in pain. Liz?" her voice was far from the joking tone she'd had earlier- it was purely medical. A voice practiced in dealing with stressful situations.

"Where is Alex?" I looked at her, face pained. "Why isn't he here?"

She relaxed, and waved everyone back, taking my hand. This was bad, why was she stopping? Was he dead?

"Alex. Where is Alex?"

"He's fine. He's just very upset with himself. He's been here a couple of times and nearly went crazy each one of them. He blames himself, sweetheart. I think he's trying not to upset you by being here. Of course, your friend over there didn't exactly help either." She pointed to Paul, who was standing in the corner, despite the protests of a male nurse.

I looked over to him, confused. "Paul, did you say something to Alex?" Paul's face looked irate at the mention of the name.

"He put you through a huge amount of danger." Paul half growled. "You were nearly killed."

I sighed- the motion was surprisingly painful, which, of course, set off my heart monitor. "I hate that thing" I muttered, as Paul broke free of the male nurse and rushed to take my hand.

"What's wrong with her?" He demanded, looking at the doctor.

"Nothing's wrong." I told him. "I just sighed, and that hurt. Relax." He sat back, and I continued. "Look, I don't blame Alex and neither should you. He's been a very good brother to me, and gotten me through more than you could imagine. So do not make him feel worse about this. It upsets me. A lot."

Paul's eyes looked even more pained, and I felt a bit guilty- after all this, I shouldn't be causing him more pain. But slowly, he nodded, and I began to feel better and relax. The beeping stopped.

"Can we see if Alex will come? Like soon?" I asked the doctor and Paul.

It was Paul who sighed and answered. "I will tell him that you want to see him." He said reluctantly. "But he is not entering this room until you get back from testing and x-rays. "

The doctor looked at both of us, "Actually, I'm going to restrict most visitors until tomorrow- I want to be sure you are completely stable. You're particularly prone to infection right now." I looked at her, feeling horrified all of the sudden.

"You're going to take away visitors? But I don't want to be here all alone! I don't want Paul to go away! Don't push him out." I begged her. Ordinarily, I would have been mortified at my neediness, but, hey, I'd been through a lot in the past week or so.

Paul's hand tightened, and I felt a certain amount of reassurance that he would not leave me easily. But the doctor pushed a hand over my forehead and said, "Relax. He's been here. If he is carrying some sort of super virus, you almost certainly have it." Both of us visibly relaxed. "Now," she continued, "I'm going to get you into X-ray, then we are going to conduct some PT tests to check your range of motion. I'm also going to try to start giving you liquids to drink later- see if we can't get you off this IV."

I nodded, making a face as I looked at the IV tube. "That sounds wonderful."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey! Here's a super long chapter for making up for not updating!**  
**Leave a Review if you can! I love them...:-) **

The tests were ok, and my day was fine while my father ,eldest brother and Paul were there. But then night came, and my father had to leave- apologizing more than I thought I'd ever see him. It warmed my heart that he actually felt _bad_ about leaving me alone.

"It's ok, dad" I reassured him. "You should sleep, and I want you to work tomorrow." I cracked a grin, "we'll have to pay for these bills somehow."

My father actually laughed- I looked on in astonishment- as he left the room with my brother to head home.

Once they were gone, I looked at Paul. "You're going to leave too?" I asked feeling sad. His hand sneaked into mine.

"Not a chance." He promised me. Then his tone turned more joking, "I've been here every night since you were brought here. It'd be such a shame to leave my new home so soon."

I rolled my eyes, but then turned serious, "Don't your parents miss you?"

He shrugged, "I'm on my own. Though, the pack brothers wish I was around more often."

I gave him a look, "You sound like you're a band of wolves or something."

He gave a very nervous chuckle, "I suppose we are like a band of wolves." He reached a hand up to very gently stroke a hair from my face. It sent a wave of shivers down my spine- I was thrilled that they didn't hurt.

"Why?" I whispered.

Paul looked confused and worried, "Why what?"

"Why are you here? Why do you care? We just met! Don't misunderstand, I'm really glad you are. I just want to know why." The abnormality of the situation had become apparent to me: it surely was not ordinary for a man who I had met once in my life to be standing over my hospital bed constantly, never leaving.

Paul was silent for quiet awhile, and I wondered if I had ruined the moment. But then he spoke, "It's hard to explain. I feel…very close to you." He locked eyes with me, "You are the most important thing in the world to me."

"I just feel like you're not telling me the full story. Like I'm missing something." I whispered to him.

His eyes filled with a deep sadness, "I promise I will try my best to fill you in on everything. But it's a lot. I want to wait until you're better."

I nodded: This seemed fair. Truth be told, I didn't know how much more news I could take. This relationship- friendship, or (I so desperately hoped) more than that- was intense enough to take. Whatever else Paul had to say could wait. For now, I was content to just sit there, holding his hand, talking.

I don't know how long we spent, discussing everything. I learned a lot about Paul: his dad had died a few years ago, and his mom went MIA some time ago. He loved any kind of Chinese food, and worked part time with his friend Jared in Jared's parent's hardware store to pay the bills. He also had a special position on the tribal council, and he could never see leaving La Push, or, as he called it, "the Res". It was clear from his voice how he loved his hometown. I wondered if the local culture did that to you.

In return, I told him all about myself: how I was beginning to grow accustomed to the cold, but still missed Florida. I tried to describe my love of all things outdoors, and was delighted to discover he liked to hang out outdoors too. He even told me all about cliff jumping: though looked rather horrified when I announced that I was going to try it. We talked about my parents, though when I mentioned my mother's death Paul himself looked like he was going to cry.

I was in the middle of describing my brother Charlie when I noticed that it was growing light outside. Not only that, but I was exhausted. Which seemed ridiculous to me, since I'd been sleeping for the past week and a half.

Paul seemed to notice exactly what I was feeling, because, before I could so much as yawn, he gently pulled the covers over me. "It's time to sleep." He whispered. "You've been through a lot."

I meant to protest, to tell him that I was fine, that I didn't need more rest. But my body seemed to disagree- I felt so…heavy. Before I could so much as say "goodnight," I drifted off into unconsciousness.

I did not sleep well. I hadn't actually been conscious enough before to notice all of the noise that goes on in hospitals: they never sleep. There was a constant pitter-patter of feet that traveled down the hallway, and a constant chorus of beeps that came from all areas around me. Occasionally, someone would shout some random code. This was generally followed by a lot of pitterpatters as medical people tried to get to whatever emergency was happening.

Even with all of that noise, I still managed to get an hour's worth of sleep. But then, at 8:30, a nurse came in with a tray of breakfast food, and I was told to eat. I tried to tell her that I wasn't hungry, but then she threatened to put me back on an IV drip. I almost took her up on that offer, but then I caught a glimpse of Paul's worried expression, so I just shut up and ate it. She also promised more pain medication after breakfast, which was good, since I could feel mine beginning to wear off.

I tried to sleep more after I took the medication, but by then, it was time for Dr. Jenkins to check up on me. Paul, of course, protested, saying that I needed sleep: I wondered how he could tell. I thought I was behaving rather normally for someone who'd had less than an hour's worth of sleep.

As she finished her exam, Dr. Jenkins told me that there were some people waiting for me outside. "They want to speak with you…alone," she added, throwing a look at Paul. His jaw clenched, and I gave him a look.

"That's fine. Who're they?"

"Forks Chief of Police Charlie Swan, and Deputy Tom Browny." I stared as a kind looking man with dark brown hair and a hint of a beer belly walked through the door to my hospital room. A lanky blonde boy who looked about Charlie's age followed him. He waved to me, and I cracked a grin. They seemed nice enough, but I had to wonder: what did the police want with me?

My fear must have shown on my face, because Chief Swan's face became much kinder, "Now, don't think that you're in any kind of trouble. We just need to hear what happened, from the source."

Paul stepped in from behind me, and gently placed a hand on my shoulder. Dr. Jenkins looked at him and said, "Paul, I would like to speak with you."  
For a second, I thought he was going to have a fit, but then she said, "We'll be right outside her door. If anything goes wrong, she'll only be two steps away from us."

Resigned, he got up and walked to the door with my doctor. It swung shut behind them, leaving me with the good Chief and his Deputy.

The Chief spoke first, "So, Elizabeth,"  
I interrupted him, "It's Liz, actually."

He grinned at me, "Fine, Liz. I'm just going to let you know right now: you are not in any kind of trouble, and I'm not interrogating you."

"Legally, you don't even have to talk to us." The Deputy added.

"But we want to understand what happened. We're hoping to prevent more accidents like this. Could you tell us what happened the night of the accident?"

I frowned, "What exactly do you want to know?"

"Just give us a general synopsis of what happened in the minutes leading up to the accident."

I held up a finger, "Let me think for a moment," and frowned as I rearranged all of the crowded images from that night. "My brother was at a party and didn't feel well enough to drive, and I told him that'd I would come to pick him up. Dad was out working late, and I didn't want to disrupt him. He's been working a lot since we came up here….anyway, I got a phone call, and went out to get the car,"  
Deputy Tom interrupted me, "But you weren't driving."

"I'm getting to that part," I told him, as Chief Swan gave him a look, "It wasn't until I got outside that I realized I didn't have a car. I'm new to town, so I couldn't think of anyone to call to pick me up. Then I saw my bike, and the GPS said it was all back roads, and in Florida, those are perfectly safe, so I decided just to bike there and drive home. I guess that was a bad move…"

Both men smiled at me, Chief Swan wryly, and Tom encouragingly as I continued, "So anyway, I made it most of the way. I'd forgotten to take into account the frigid air, and the ice- that was pretty stupid of me. Anyway, when I was about 2 minutes away, a pair of headlights came out of nowhere. That's pretty much the last thing I remember." I frowned, tired from telling the story, "Is that what you needed to know?"

"Mostly." Chief Swan told me. "We needed your statement for the upcoming trial for both McKensey boys.

I stared at him, "You've lost me, Chief Swan."

"From what we saw of your tracks, and there were quite a bit, thanks to the mud you were riding through, you were nearly off the road. The car who hit you swerved towards you- both people inside were very drunk, and had almost no motor control whatsoever. Both are being tried under a pretty hefty set of charges."

"But it was my fault too!" I protested, "I'm the stupid girl on the bike, remember?"  
The Chief looked over me, "Tell me, does your bike have reflectors, and a blinking light ahead of it?"

"Yes, but.."

"Were you not wearing a helmet?"

"I'd probably be dead if I hadn't been."

"There you go. The most danger you were doing was putting yourself at risk for hypothermia." He cracked a grin, "And really, that would've taken a little longer to set in. I'm no jury, but according to my police report, the accident was not your fault."

The news sank in, and I didn't quite know what to make of it. On the one hand, I didn't condone drinking in any way, shape, or form. For goodness sake, I was in the silly hospital, because of some stupid teenagers who made the wrong decision after a party.

On the other hand, the McKensey boys were probably in a lot of trouble- more trouble than I was, at this point. Besides the possibility of not being able to have children- and really, I should be able to heal from that anyway- I would be walking out of the hospital with no permanent damage. When I thought about it, I was really quite lucky. But the boys probably weren't. They were most likely in for a long prison sentence, just because of a stupid mistake.

I felt a little sad about that, and I knew it was silly. Because it wasn't my fault. And I could have been killed by a stupid mistake- it happens everyday. But still…they were going to see their lives snatched away, without ever having begun it. And that made me feel quite upset.

"Liz? Are we clear?" Chief Swan had been talking all throughout my mental rant. And I, of course, hadn't been listening to a word of it.

"On what exactly?" I asked, hoping that it was a normal question to ask.

"I'd rather no one, aside from family, know the specifics of the accident until after a full report is published. Probably won't be until after a trial begins."

I nodded, which was a terrible idea, because it gave me an awful headache. "Got it."

Both officers stood, and Chief Swan took my hand, "Thanks for talking with us, Liz. Hope you heal real soon."

I smiled at both of them as they walked out of the door, marveling at the fact that even the cops in this town seemed kind of…nice.

My day passed smoothly after the police left. I was in a stable condition, so the nurses left me alone a lot more. My father and Charlie stopped by around noon. It was Charlie's last visit; apparently his leave was over, now that I was in stable condition.

We talked a lot before he left, though. He told me about Iraq, and how he was doing all kinds of crazy things- like losing control over a tank, and nearly crashing it into his commander's tent. Apparently they'd saved it, and the worst thing that happened was his buddy had spilled his ice cream.I didn't bother asking why they were eating ice cream in a tank.

He still couldn't tell me exactly what he was up too. Apparently I needed top secret clearance for that. I tried to cajole it out of him, but wasn't very successful. I suppose when you're trained to resist crazy interrogation tactics, a whiny sister isn't all that difficult to diffuse.

As Charlie turned to go, he added, "Oh, and Alex is on his way over. Should be here in about 5 minutes." I felt a grin come over my face.

"He's finally coming! Thanks Charlie!" My brother turned back to me, and gave me another hug.

"No problem sis. Take care. I'm going to try and be back some time during the summer. Christmas at the very latest."

"Love you, Charlie."

"Love you too, sis." And, like that, my brother was gone. I felt rather sad at that- it had been really nice to see him, even if it was only for a few days. But the thought of Alex coming cheered me up. I hadn't seen him for several days. I was actually starting to miss the kid.

As soon as Charlie left, Paul hurried back into the room, sitting next to me. He looked more tired than before, and I heard his stomach growl. "You need to eat, Paul."

"I'm fine. I don't want to leave you."

"It's ok Paul. Alex is coming. Please, please go get something to eat. It'd make me feel better."

Paul just stared, face on fire, "I don't know if I can, dammit! Last time I left, you nearly had yourself killed! Getting that…that…"

"First of all, I believe I left you. How were you supposed to know I'd do something stupid, like ride my bike in a frigid rainstorm? Second of all, it wasn't Alex's fault. I'm the one who was stupid about all of this. Paul, relax. I'm in a hospital. There are doctors everywhere. If I need something, Alex is here. He's perfectly capable of doing things when he's not intoxicated. And I need you to do this for me. Please. You are worrying me sick." Those were words that he could not resist, and I felt slightly guilty at his expression- he seemed to be in pain at the idea he could hurt me. He nodded curtly, and walked away too quickly. I felt a hurt in my chest as I watched him go, and sudden panic- what if he never came back.

As though he were tied to my thoughts, Paul came back in an instant to kiss my forehead. "I won't be gone long" he whispered in my ear. Then he was gone, and an awkward Alex walked rushed into the room.

"Jesus, am I glad to see you awake." His face was contorted. "Lizzie, what did I do to you?"

I stared at him. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"You nearly died because of me! You've been here for a week, because of my stupid night! I can't believe I was such an idiot." I continued to stare at him. "I can''t even look in the mirror anymore! Look at you."

My eyes narrowed, was I really that hideous? "Alex SHUT UP! You are giving me a headache." Alex's eyes REALLY contorted with worry, and I could tell that he was a second away from pushing the call button to get the nurse. "And the headache has NOTHING to do with the accident. Trust me on that one."

He seemed to relax and sat back down. "Seriously Liz, I cannot believe that I was so irresponsible."

"Alex, I was my fault. I was the idiot on the bike? And technically, I don't even think it's my fault. The police people told me that the loser who hit me was drunk. So really, all of this is his fault. " My brother continued to look antagonized, "Alex, I don't blame you."

He glanced at me, and I saw tears in his eyes. "Do you have any idea how worried we all were? We thought you were going to die. When you came in, the doctor said that it would be a miracle if you survived an HOUR into surgery! AN HOUR! The hospital had to call dad, and dad notified Charlie! They planned out your funeral! Charlie was allowed home because the doctor pretty much assured the military that you probably wouldn't survive the week! They let him go home to attend your FUNERAL!" Alex was past control at this point, and I felt terrible. He hadn't done anything wrong. I was the stupid one.

I tried to tell him that again, but that just caused him to stand suddenly, hands clenched into fists. For the first time, I felt kind of afraid of my brother. He was actually a pretty big guy, and several afternoons spent in the Atlantic Ocean had caused him to develop a nice set of muscles. "DO NOT TELL ME THAT I WASN'T RESPONSBLE! JUST DO NOT!"

"Alex…please" I whispered, beginning to cry.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?" Paul came running in, and he was shaking from head to toe. "WHY IS SHE CRYING? DON'T YOU THINK YOU'VE DONE…" Alex covered his face and ran out of the room.

"PAUL! CALM" A third voice came running into my room, and I looked over to see the source. Another tall, dark skinned man was running into the room. If Paul hadn't just told me that he was an only child, I could have mistaken him for Paul's brother.

"You heard what he said, SAM!" Strange, that what with all that was happening, I registered that man's name. Probably because of the way Paul had emphasized it. He half spat it out.

It was then that I noticed that Paul was shaking from head to toe. Sam sighed and I heard him mutter "Too Late now" He jammed open the window and pulled both himself and Paul through it. I literally jumped up to the window- adrenaline pulsing through me. I was numb.

As I looked down, watching them fall, both Paul and that other guy changed in one fluid movement from human men…to wolves.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey y'all...I'm actually on vacation this week, so updating gets a little more difficult...still, I do what I can :-)**

**Enjoy and review if you can...they make me super super happy!**

My mind wouldn't process what I had just seen. It rejected it, as did my body. I started shaking all over- if my heart monitor were attached, it would be going absolutely crazy. I was vaguely aware that I had fallen to the floor and was now twitching on the ground. Getting out of bed had been a dumb idea.

I began screaming then and I saw a team of nurses rush in. "DOCTER! WE NEED A DOCTOR!" I was vaguely aware of someone- it sounded like Alex- shouting my name over and over.

Then I felt a prick , and everything faded.

But I was plagued even in unconsciousness- all I could see was an image of Paul changing into a wolf, over and over again. It was horrifying, scary- not even only because of the wolf. He had fallen 3 stories down- surely he was hurt! I should have sent someone after him! What was I thinking, just letting myself go like that? I should have fought harder, for him.

I awoke some time later, feeling no better. My hospital room was darker though- it must have turned into night while I was asleep. There was no one there, at least, no one that I could see. I glanced over, and was delighted to see a light from what could only be my cell phone- Alex must have brought it- sitting on the bedside table- 12:02 am. And I had a ton of new texts. It seemed that the news of my accident had gotten out.

Then I remembered everything…again. Where was Paul? Was he hurt? "Paul?" I called his name out into the dark room. "Where are you?"

But there was no answer. That frightened me- surely he was hurt? I _had _to find him.

But how? I couldn't get out of bed, for god's sake! I had tried that smart move earlier, and it'd ended with me crashing to the floor. Painfully. While I'd gladly take the pain to see him again, it was not an effective method of transportation.

That was when I noticed the wheelchair, just outside the door. "Of course!" I whispered, feeling pleased with myself. It was right by the door…I just needed to get over there.

That would be an issue. I couldn't walk, obviously, nor could I crawl- the pain in my ribs would be too much. This stumped me for a moment- how could I make it all the way there?

Then it hit me. If I could shimmy down onto my butt, I could slide across the floor- easy peasy lemon squeezy. It wouldn't be that hard…right?

Wrong. Oh, sliding down was perfectly fine It was the getting across the floor on my butt part that was hard. And extremely painful. My chest literally felt like it was going to explode. I bit my lips until I felt them start bleeding, just to keep from crying out.

But I had to keep going. Paul could be in trouble, he could be in even worse pain. What had the fall done to him? Nevermind the whole turning into a wolf thing- though, I was pretty convinced that whatever medication I was on was causing fairly bad hallucinations.

Finally, _finally_, I made it to the wheelchair. Using one leg and my good arm, I tilted the chair. Then I climbed into the seat, and, one final boost later, I was in.

I tried out the chair- it seemed to work well enough. I wheeled it with my good arm all the way to my bedside table. I grabbed my cellphone- now that I was venturing into the outside world, I needed some sort of security blanket.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, I wheeled into the hallway. It was fairly busy- even at this hour. A nurse passed by me, hardly noticing. The night staff were often overworked here. I hoped that this would work out in my favor.

I kept my head down, stopping the chair occasionally right by a doorway with my head down. The nurses didn't seem to really notice: the poor women manning the desk looked like she was in desperate need of a coffee break.

Eventually, I made it past the nurses station, into an elevator. There was a map right next to it: Emergency Room, floor one. Well, that seemed easy enough. I wheeled into elevator, pressed a button for floor one, and was sent on my way with a loud _ding!_

Once on floor one, it wasn't hard to find the ER: all I had to do was go down the hallway and to the right. I was surprised at how busy it was. How was I supposed to find Paul in such a mess of people? My eyes strayed to the reception desk: surely they knew.

"Excuse me?" I piped up to the women sitting at what seemed an impossible height. She looked straight ahead, obviously confused, "I'm down here." Her eyes widened as she took in my appearance, and I wondered again at how hideous I must look.

"Sweetheart! What are you doing out here! Shouldn't you be back in triage?"

I had no idea what a triage was, but I could guess that she thought I belonged in the ER. "No, I'm not an ER patient. I'm looking for a friend."

The receptionist just said, "I'm going to call for a nurse, ok honey?" I sighed, and sat back, resigned. My chest was starting to hurt: it was kind of getting hard to breathe.

"I'm not a patient," I explained, a second time as the nurse walked to me, "Not an ER patient, anyway."

She gave me a glance, and I could tell that she didn't believe me. "Really, I'm just looking for a friend. His name's Paul." I had to stop, and take a couple of shallow breaths. She observed this, eyes calculating. She was on to me. I didn't like that.

"LISTEN TO ME!" I half shouted. That was a mistake. It took me a minute to recover, but the nurse bent down, apparently resigned to hear me out. "Paul's my friend. He fell out of a window, and I think he's really hurt. Is he here?"

Over the loudspeaker came a loud voice "Code Blue, Female, Floor 3. Repeat, Code Blue." I wondered what the heck a code blue was.

"Why don't you come with me," The nurse suggested, speaking to me for the first time.

"No!" I protested. "I'm not an ER patient! Really! I need to find Paul! Where IS HE?" The nurse looked sympathetically at me,

"Why don't you let me take a look at the bracelet, honey." I rolled my eyes,

"That's not important! Paul fell out of a window! I have to find him!"

"Honey, no one is in here with that type of injury. We're dealing with two car accidents, one animal injury- those are the most severe accidents we've had today. There is no one who feel out of a window right here at the hospital. There hasn't been one all day. Trust me. We would have heard about it. Now please. A code blue has been issued. I need to check your bracelet."

I was confused now- how could this be? But the question that came out of my mouth had nothing to do with that, "What's a code blue?"

"Missing patient. Apparently, a girl went missing from floor 3, about half an hour ago."

I turned cherry red and held out my bracelet. "Guilty." I muttered. "Sorry." All of the sudden, it became impossible to breathe, and I gasped, slumping down into the chair.

The nurse examined my bracelet. Then she started calling frantically for a doctor. One came over, and, before I knew it, I was pushed onto a gurney and being wheeled into a room with every sort of medical device that plagued my nightmares. The sign on the door read: Trauma room.

"What's wrong?" I asked, beginning to feel frightened. "What's happened." Then it dawned on me. They might have had the wrong girl. I started screaming bloody murder, "STOP! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! YOU HAVE THE WRONG GIRL! HELP! HELP!" I couldn't breathe anymore: I had to take several, troubled breaths. They ignored me, positioning funny instruments over me. Who did they have me confused with? WHAT IF THEY WERE GOING TO AMPUTATE? I began to scream again, followed by several struggling breaths.

Midway through my third cycle of screaming and breathing, the doors to the Trauma room opened, and in rushed…Paul? "PAUL! HELP!" I screamed, frantic. He literally ran over to my side.

"What's wrong with her?" He demanded.

The doctor turned to him, "Only family members please."  
"I'm her fiancé," Paul told the doctors without missing the beat. Oddly enough, amidst the total chaos that surrounded me, that statement made me grin.

"Very well." The doctor said, now pouring some goo over my bare chest. "This young lady decided that she was going to crawl out of bed, make her way to a wheelchair, and roll herself 3 flights down, because she was convinced that some guy named Paul had fallen out of her window."

Paul looked furious and abruptly crossed the room. "Paul!" I cried out, upset to see him go. "Don't leave me!" He was back in a flash, as the nurse began hooking me up to some funny looking machines- I recognized the heart monitor.

"We need to get her to calm down." The doctor told Paul. "I'm worried that she might have done some more damage to her lung and ribs, and with that heart rate, she might get into trouble again. She needs to relax. I'm going to sedate her."

Paul took my hand in his, which I noticed was shaking. "Honey, Lizzie, you need to calm down. Breathe with me please and just relax. I need you to get better for me. Relax please, just breathe." His worried tone brought little comfort, but I forced myself to breathe evenly, if only to relax him. I felt another prick of a needle, and then couldn't help relaxing. Everything was so…peaceful. I closed my eyes, and fell asleep again.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello! Thanks for all of your support! It makes me feel super special! :-) I really appreciate all of the comments and everything!**

The next morning, I woke in my old hospital room, to find Paul holding my hand, "Is this real?" I asked him, feeling a whole lot better, "You're not dead?"

Paul's face was worried, ashamed, "Of course not! Not a scratch on me, silly girl. What were you thinking?"

The previous afternoon's activities came back to me and I frowned, worry and utter confusion washing over me again. "What were you thinking? YOU JUMPED OUT A WINDOW, PAUL!" I half shouted at him, forgetting where we were for a moment. "You could have been killed. And then…I saw…" I cleared my throat- what if he thought I was crazy? Truth be told, I didn't know what I saw. Well, I knew what I saw, but it wasn't natural. Maybe my brain had become destroyed in the accident. The reasonable part of my brain, that is.

Paul's face had become completely frozen- and I wondered how he was feeling. He seemed to know something: he had to. "What did you see?" he whispered, voice low. I wondered if he was angry…or scared.

"When you fell out of the window…you seemed to change before you hit the ground. There were two of you…that other guy." I remembered the two of them falling and shuddered again. Paul didn't move, but I could tell how hard it was for him to stay still at this point. Something was up.

"Go on…" he whispered, encouraging me.

"You changed into wolves. Right there, during the fall." His expression didn't changed, and I quickly went on, "But of course, that's impossible. I mean, human beings don't change into wolves. It just doesn't work like that. The natural world does not work like that." Paul still didn't react, "Does it?"

"I need to talk to Sam." Paul whispered.

I stared at him, "What do you mean?" I tried to grin, even though I could feel my heart racing. "Just tell me that you're not a giant wolf, and I'll relax."

Paul's eyes were full of pain, "I promised myself I wouldn't lie to you, Liz." I could barely hear his voice, it was so low. I felt a cold horror come over to me. Either he thought I was completely crazy…or…No. I did not want to even think it. Because it was impossible.

"Paul, please don't think I'm crazy. I'm not crazy. I promise." I half begged him. "Listen to me Paul! I'm not…"

He put a finger to his lips. It was trembling. "I know that Lizzie. I could never think that."  
"Wait…if I'm not crazy, than that means…" I stared at him. "I want an answer Paul. Can you change into a wolf?" The question came out of my mouth casually, as though I were asking about the weather, or what was on the hospital menu. I think I was numb- I just couldn't process that this was actually happening. It was surreal.

"Yes." He didn't look at me. "I can."

"Oh.." I couldn't think of anything else to say. What could I say? I had just found out that my little crush- or boyfriend (I hoped)-transforms into a wolf occasionally. My mind rejected the knowledge. I couldn't understand it, or perhaps I just didn't want to understand it. Either way, it made absolutely no sense to me.

That's when I noticed that Paul had stood up and was across the room, shaking from head to toe. For a second, I thought that he was having a seizure, and I moved to buzz for help. I called his name, "Paul? Do you need help?" Immediately he stopped shaking.

"That was dangerous." He whispered, "I can't lose control like that around you. Ever."

I just stared at him, trying to main expressionless, to repress my emotion. Because, really, I didn't know what was going to come out if I let it go. And if anything else, I didn't want to scare Paul like that. He was telling me the truth about himself. I knew that. And I didn't want him to be afraid to tell me the truth. "Can you tell me what you are? Exactly? What makes you different from me?"

"I'm not human, for one." He whispered, taking my hand and closely monitoring my expression. "I believe you've heard of us before. Werewolves. We can change, generally at will, into wolves."

"What do you mean by 'generally at will'?"

"We change when there's a very strong emotion running through us. It's easy to phase anyway, but when we're upset, we can lose all control. That's what happened in your room the other day. I got too upset." His face was ashamed. "You have no idea how dangerous that was. If you had been to close…If Sam hadn't gotten me out…" He looked at me, face intense with so many emotions: I couldn't place them. I was too involved in his story. "You could have gotten very hurt."

"Why's that?" I whispered. I knew I should be worried that he could transform like this, and that I was in serious danger. But I wasn't. I still didn't feel anything. In shock, I supposed.

"I am very…strong. It comes with the territory. But, as a human, I can control that strength. Not as easy when I'm a wolf- we rely much more on instinct. And, of course, I have no control while I'm phasing." Paul locked eyes with me, expression becoming even more intense. "But I will never hurt you. You need to understand that. No matter what I am, no matter what I'm built for, I will never hurt you. I'm here to protect you. I swear it."

"Why?" I whispered. "Why do you care so much? Surely you're not all like this for everyone. What makes me so special?" I bit my lip as the question left my mouth. Part of me wished that I could take it back, even though it was a question I so desperately wanted to know the answer to. But what if he didn't feel the way I did? I didn't know if I could take that. I was way too emotionally invested in this relationship, or whatever it was. I knew that.

Paul's expression became quite tender, and he reached up to stroke my face. "There's a separate phenomena with us wolves. It's called imprinting.

"Like a duck?" I interrupted him. I was becoming more aware: my emotions were coming back, the awful cold feeling leaving my body.

Paul half snorted, face becoming a little more lively. "I guess that's where we get the name from, though I don't appreciate being called a duck."

"Quack quack! Quack quack. Who is my little ducky?"

"Hey, did you want to hear the rest of the story or not?" I think he was trying to sound angry, but the fact that he was smiling made it really hard to believe him.

"Ok, ok, I'll be quiet." I made a big show of zipping my lips and throwing away the key.

"Anyway, it's kind of like what happens with ducklings when they see their mom or whatever. When we see…_her_, everything changes. I don't even know how to describe it: it's as though there's this invisible rope, and you are tied to her. Forever. You lose the ability to look at other people in the same manner. You know that you'll follow her anywhere. Through anything." He looked at me. "That's what happened, in the parking lot, when I first saw you. I wanted nothing more than to run across all those cars, at wolf speed, and scoop you into my arms. Get you away from Seth," he smiled a half smile, "I thought he was hittin on you or something. And I felt so jealous, so angry. Sam forced me to get out of there: I nearly ripped his head off for taking me away from you. I was already bound to you, even then, when I hadn't even spoken to you." He chuckled, "I'll bet you didn't even notice."

"I noticed you," my voice was quiet, "That very first day. I wondered why they had to pull you into the woods."

He frowned, "I must have seemed nuts. I'm surprised you even talked to me."

"I was fascinated by you. I had no idea why. I kind of felt attached to you, in a strange way. I knew that there was something special about you, even though I'd just see you from afar," The truth came easily to my lips; I was surprised at how easy it was to tell Paul exactly how I felt about him. "And then…I heard wolves out my window that night…was that you?"

"I couldn't leave you alone. I wanted to protect you, worried all night, and finally I went to your house that night to check up on you. I just had to see that you were safe." He stroked my face, "You meant everything to me, even then, when I barely knew you."

"I looked you up in the yearbook the next day." I smiled at the memory. Never had I thought this boy might be something incredible. Never had I thought that he would wind up becoming the most important person in my life. But I had known there was a connection there, even when I had no idea as to why. "I wanted to know more about you."

Paul kissed the top of my head. "I guess the connection goes both ways. But still" He looked me in the eyes, "You know that you're not forced to be with me right? I am here to be whatever you need, whatever you want. I don't want to go away, but if that's what you need…well, I wouldn't hesitate." His words sent a jolt of pain through my body- I didn't even want to think about him leaving. He couldn't leave me. I didn't know if I could survive that.  
"Please don't leave me." I whispered to him. He took my hand in both of his, eyes tightening in response to whatever he saw in my face.

"Look at me. I am yours- bound to you. I will always be there for you, for whatever you need. I'm by your side until you make me go away."

I could feel the muscles in my throat closing, and I almost felt like crying. This was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Ever. "Don't hold your breath for that," I whispered.

And then, right there, in the middle of the hospital, Paul brought his lips down. I felt a warm softness grace my lips as he gently brushed against them. I pushed my lips up to his, inviting him in. He traced the inside of my mouth with his tongue and I reached my good arm up around him.

"Ahem…" I jumped, and Paul pulled away, winking at me. Dr. Jenkins came into the room. "Having a nice afternoon are we?"

I blushed, a sheepish grin spreading across my face, "Uh-huh."

"Yes, well, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I want to check you out after your little…excursion yesterday. Mr. Young, if you could be so kind…" Paul squeezed my hand, then stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind him. "Miss Smith, I know that I told you that you couldn't have children, but I still suggest practicing certain safe sex techniques. You never know what people might have."  
I turned an even brighter red. "Um…thanks, but we're not…you know. We've only been dating for a week. That was our first kiss. We're not ready for that."

Dr. Jenkins turned to me, looking surprised as she began her examination, "Really? That is a surprise? I'd assumed, from the way that he was attached to your side all day, that you two were much more serious than that. He seems very….connected to you. I don't see that a lot, and I deal with a lot of families."

"I do like him quite a bit," I admitted to her, blushing once again. "He's just such a good guy."

"He'd better be. You deserve a lot, honey. Don't ever sell yourself short." She brought over an ultrasound machine. "I'm going to take a look at that lunch, but everything looks pretty good. Even your test results from the ER aren't terrible, and that was after your little adventure. If your lung is healing well enough, I'd think that you might be able to go home within 4-5 days." She turned to me, smiling wryly. "Just so long as we don't have any more excursions. You need the rest, my dear."

She poured some good onto my chest. It was cold, and felt really funny. "Here we go…yes, that is healing quite nicely. How would you say your breathing feels?"

"Much better than when I first came in here. I can take deep breaths without being in so much pain I feel like collapsing, anyway" I shuddered at the memory of my first visit to the hospital.

"I would definitely say that you are on your way to a full recovery. I want you in here for the next few days just to keep you close and under observation, but you should have a little less than a week with us." She winked at me, "Then I'm kicking you out."

I felt excited at her statement. After all, I had been locked up in this sanitary prison for just over half a month. I felt as though I were going absolutely crazy in here. I could not wait to see the sun, to go outside, and to have some degree of freedom again.

But something worried me. Paul had been by my side almost constantly since I arrived, or at least, since I'd been awake. What would happen when we went home, and got back to our regular lives? He'd certainly be away from me more- I knew that. There was no way that Paul could stay by my side constantly at home-surely, he had a life to get back to at home. I knew that he was probably putting a lot aside to be with me at the hospital- definitely a lot more than he let on. I wondered how he had gotten all of the time of work. Jared's parents must have been really understanding.

"I'm going to have you CAT scanned and MRIed again today." Dr. Jenkins told me as she cleaned off the ultrasound machine. I made a face at her- I'd really started to dislike the MRI machine. Not only did it induce a great deal of claustrophobia, but it was also loud beyond belief. The metallic banging and whirling always gave me a headache.

She saw my expression and laughed, "This may be your second to last one while in here. Just remember that."

"I can't wait."


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: Thanks for all of the reviews and everything! I'm sorry it's been such a long time between updates- I was away on vacation with no computer (GASP) And it may be a few days before the next update as well (Just warning you all), because I have 10 pages on democracy in Honduras due Monday. Apparently, procrastination is bad.**

**Thanks again for reading! As always, reviews make me smile!**

I had a few visitors during my last 4 days there. Seth came in to see me a few times, and to bring some of my work in from class. I thanked him rather sarcastically for that. We were becoming good friends- he just seemed like such an easygoing, happy person. It was very hard not to get along with Seth.

Mary from school came in one day with Seth. She seemed really excited to see me, but I wondered if she wasn't also there to see Seth as well. The way she looked at him made me think that he probably had an admirer.

My father and my brother were in and out constantly over the days, but then that wasn't out of the ordinary. And Paul, of course, was always there, sitting beside me, holding my hand, stroking my face. We'd shared a few more kisses here and there too.

Kissing Paul was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before: one of the highlights of my life. Each kiss burned through me, a wildfire that engulfed me completely. It transformed us from individuals into a couple-it was truly wonderful. I became greedy, demanding them all of the time. He didn't seem to mind though.

At last, at last, right after Seth and Mary's visit, the doctor told me that it was time to leave. My father and Alex had already taken everything back with them, just leaving a simple change of clothes: sweatpants, a t-shirt and a jacket, and some shower stuff for me- I figured I might as well take advantage of the hospital's unlimited supply of hot water, since we were certainly paying for it anyway.

Paul, of course, stayed just outside the bathroom door. Alex had taken to teasing me that I only took a week in school to develop a secret boyfriend. I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was much more than that.

It took me a while to shower, even though the hospital's shower was built for handicapped people, and I had a nurse handing me everything that I needed. Getting dressed was even more of an issue: I had the hardest time pulling my shirt on without disrupting my cast, or the bandages wrapped around my chest.

Still, it felt good to be out of the awful pale blue hospital gown and into my very own clothing, even if they were only sweats. And I was happy to feel clean again: a month's worth of sponge baths tend to get old.

After dressing, I sat myself in a wheelchair: the kind nurse brushed my wet blonde hair, trying to be gently about avoiding the bandage on my head. According to the doctor, my head was almost healed, but no need to push it: she still wanted me to change the bandages twice a day: once in the morning after I showered, and again before bed. It sounded kind of like a pain, but I didn't argue- at this point, all I cared about was getting out of the hospital.

When my hair was pulled into a long braid down my back, I was wheeled into the hallway. Paul stood behind me, carrying what was left of my shower stuff. I'd told him to just let it sit on my lap- it certainly wasn't any effort for me to keep it there- but he'd just rolled his eyes and taken it anyway.

As I left the hospital wing, all of the nurses waved- I'd gotten to know them all by name at this point. Dr. Jenkins actually hugged me, "Now, I don't want to see you back here again? You got that, Miss Smith?" I just laughed and hugged her back. I would actually miss Dr. Jenkins.

My father had pulled the car to the front of the hospital, and Alex had gotten out and opened the front door for me. I smiled at both of them- I felt so excited to see daylight again! It had been a long time- just over 2 weeks.

Paul scooped my up and brought me to the car- he whispered in my ear,

"Let's get out of here," sending a whole bunch of shivers down my spine. And then it hit me- I was actually going home! I hadn't really allowed myself to believe it until I was seated firmly next to Paul in the car, driving on the highway towards La Push.

To say that I was excited was putting it mildly. I was ecstatic. I hadn't been home in well over 2 weeks- when the accident happened, I was at the end of the 2nd week in January, and it was almost February. I couldn't believe it- it felt like time had flown by while I was sitting in that silly hospital bed. I wanted my two weeks back, but then, that would never happen.

Plus, I reminded myself, the fact that winter was going by so fast meant that summer would come sooner- and I couldn't wait for summer. Especially if summer involved Paul- and, since we were apparently soul mates or something like that, I assumed that it would.

_"Soul mates" _the very thought brought a smile to my face. How lucky was I? Most girls spent years searching for the person that they were meant to be with forever. Mine had just easily waltzed in midway through high school. It was almost too good to be true- but I wouldn't let myself think that. Surely, after being nearly killed by a car, I deserved some happiness.

When we arrived home, I was surprised to see that my father had built a wheelchair ramp winding up to the front door. I wondered why, since we didn't have a wheelchair. Then I heard Alex say, "I'll go get her chair." I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised- I mean, I couldn't exactly walk on my own yet- but I was anyway. My father and brother had actually thought ahead! Of course, Paul had most likely helped him, but still, it counted.

It was almost frustrating though- being expected to actually use a wheelchair. Knowing that I needed it was worse; harder to accept.

"No need," Paul's voice came from right next to me. "I can carry her in.

We'll get it to her once she's inside, out of the cold." It touched me that he worried, but I kind of wanted to learn how to get around by myself. After all, I had to learn how to be on my own eventually.

Paul scooped me up, "Nice job muscle man," I muttered. He winked at me and carried me easily up the ramp and into the house.

Never had I thought that my new house would feel so much like home- I was just so glad to be out of that silly hospital. I had Paul carry me straight into my room- as hideously girly as it was, I was thrilled to see it. He set me on my bed, then snuggled next to me. My father followed, "Lizzie, I'm cooking mashed potatoes and steak for dinner. It'll be ready in about a half hour. You and Paul can eat up here- I don't want you straining yourself by moving all around the house today."

"Ok, ok." I agreed- mostly because I wanted to stay in bed with Paul. And it wasn't as though I wasn't at all tired. I was. I hadn't had that much excitement, or movement, in my life since I'd been in the hospital. It was exhausting.

"All right then," he said, then added awkwardly, "it's really good to have you home sweetheart."

I blushed- my father had been surprisingly emotional during this week, "It's really good to be home, Daddy."

Good as it was to be home, I felt so lonely as I went to go to sleep that night- I missed having Paul next to me. I wanted him to lay down beside me, and cuddle up next to his arm. My room was too big, too quiet.

Paul had become hugely important in my life- whatever happened, I knew that I could never, ever stand to be away from him for more than a few hours. I was way too attached.

But that was normal, I reminded myself. The imprint phenomena pulled us together, connecting us in a way that was beyond my understanding. As excited as I was about it, the idea that I'd met my soulmate at 17 made my head spin, but then I remembered that it was Paul and calmed down instantly. It was really quite amazing.

Getting to sleep was not an easy task. I felt jumpy in the dark quiet of my bedroom. Every few minutes, I would hear footsteps outside my door, and sometimes Alex or my father would peak in and make sure that I was ok.

Touched as I was that they were so worried about me, it was kind of annoying: I was rather grateful when I heard my brother set his alarm and go to bed. My father followed shortly after.

Even after that, I couldn't sleep at all. I ached in ways that the medicine the hospital had given me couldn't help at all. I must have laid in bed for hours, just trying to relax myself enough to finally fall asleep. I couldn't even toss and turn: I tried it once and nearly screamed in pain as I twisted my chest. I had stopped moving after that: I didn't want to alert my father and Alex to the fact that I was still awake.

Finally, after laying in bed for several hours, I began to feel a bit sleepy. Gratefully, I let unconsciousness take over me.

Even after that, I couldn't sleep at all. I ached in ways that the medicine the hospital had given me couldn't help at all. I must have laid in bed for hours, just trying to relax myself enough to finally fall asleep. I couldn't even toss and turn: I tried it once and nearly screamed in pain as I twisted my chest. I had stopped moving after that: I didn't want to alert my father and Alex to the fact that I was still awake. Then I saw something in the corner...

"Paul?" I whispered. He emerged from the shadows.

"I had to check on you." He told me, putting a hand up against my face. "I've been worried sick all night. Sam let me go early because I couldn't concentrate on anything."

I laughed quietly, "I'm glad you're here," I told him, snuggling under his warm arm. I hadn't realized how cold I'd been until after I'd started to warm up, "I missed you. I couldn't sleep."

I'm sorry I woke you." He told me, looking slightly ashamed.

No, I'm very glad you did." I told him, though it seemed to come out in the form of a yawn. "I was getting kind of lonely and cold, and I didn't want to wake my father and Alex."

"I can fix that," he whispered, hugging me a little closer. He was so gentle with me- it didn't hurt in the slightest. "But right now you need to go to sleep."

"I'm not sleepy." I protested, but another huge yawn gave me away.

Paul kissed the top of my head, "Shhh…baby, go to sleep. I'll be right here, right next to you. Sleep." He whispered.

"I love you." I mumbled, the words sounding jumbled because I was so tired. That was the last thing I could get out before I fell into a very contented sleep.

**So...posting chapters during my 4:30 am shift at work APPARENTLY will result in grammatical errors. Oops. :-P Should be fixed now though...And don't worry...I will be updating soon. I know I've been slacking...sorry :-(**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hopefully this one is a little bit better edited. Of course, it could be just as rough...considering I just worked a 15 hour day. Woohoo!**

**As always, I LOVE reviews! I just realized that this story has 66 of them...that's a record for me! :-) Thanks so much everyone!**

Two weeks into what I began to think of as my "home arrest", I began to get very, very antsy. Dad had begun to go back to work, and Alex had school everyday. Luckily, I had Paul to keep me company, and help me with homework, but I felt as though I was holding him back. I tried to talk him into leaving me at home, so that he could get some sleep, but he always refused, saying that he wanted my company. I figured he just didn't want me at home alone.

"Can we go somewhere?" I asked Paul, as we were sitting on the couch together. I spent most of my time sitting on the couch now that I'd gotten the cast on my arm off: luckily, my wrist had only taken about a month to heal. I'd begun using crutches for exercise, though my overprotective family just wanted me to use the silly wheelchair. Paul detested the crutches and tolerated the wheelchair: his ideal mode of transportation was just to carry me everywhere. Not that I really minded that. It meant that I got to be in his arms, after all.

He cracked a grin at me, "Where exactly do you want to go?"

"I don't care. Anywhere. OUT OF THIS STUPID HOUSE!" I waved my crutch, which I was mostly using to annoy Paul, for emphasis.

He paused to think, "I know. How about my house?"

That caught me off guard. It was strange, but even though I'd been spending most of my time with Paul, we'd been staying at my house. I didn't even know the street where his house was, let alone what it looked like. The prospect of seeing his house was…very exciting. I felt my heart pump against my chest, which kind of hurt, because only one of my ribs had actually healed fully.

Paul had been watching my expression, guarded. I wondered how he could actually expect me to say "no" to such an offer. "Let's go NOW!" I demanded. He laughed- I knew it had been too easy.

"Easy there tiger. I want you to eat something first. Oh, and take a nap. I don't want to exhaust you."

"What am I, three?" I muttered. "I just want to go. Now!" I tried to stomp my good foot for emphasis, but wound up falling backwards. I would have landed rather painfully on my butt, but Paul was there, of course. He caught me gently and looked at me, his brown eyes smoldering. I struggled to remember how to breathe.

"I need you to eat, then sleep. Please, Lizzie. For me. You need to get better." His soft voice was way, way too persuasive for me to resist.

"Fine." I plopped down on the couch and crossed my arms. "But I need to get out of here soon. Otherwise I'll spontaneously combust, and it'll be all your fault. "

He rolled his eyes, "Of course, my dear. But let's get you healthy, in the meantime."

"Fine, fine. What's for lunch then, Mr. Mom?"

Paul paused, "I was thinking spaghetti, actually." He winked, "Left over from last night. It sat well with your stomach anyway. And I want to keep you healthy." I was going to pretend to pout again- I really was craving something closer to peanut butter and jelly- but all of the sudden, Paul swooped down and kissed me deeply, and I forgot where I was and what I was talking about,

"Well" he said, as he pulled away,

"Well what?" I asked, breathless.

"How does that sound?"

"Great." I told him. "But I want another kiss first, please."

He chuckled, "Yes m'am."

I pushed myself up to his lips, and crushed my body to him. The fire traveled throughout him, and I felt a need to be with him, to touch him everywhere. My hand traveled along the waist of his pants, slowly going up his shirt. I could feel his hand beginning to do the same. I needed him, I wanted him I…

Then, suddenly, Paul pushed me away calmly but firmly. I was pleased to see that he was panting as hard as I was. "Liz…we can't…not now."

I crossed my arms. This had become a daily argument. "Why not?" I demanded. "We're both almost legal adults. It's our choice. Why shouldn't we?"

His eyes tightened, "You have no clue how hard you are to resist. But…I…can't….not like this. Not when you're still recovering. I could hurt you. Not a risk I'm gonna take, Babe."  
"What risk? I'm perfectly fine. You love me way too much to hurt me like that, Paul. I know you. I'm your imprint." I pointed to myself with my newly uncasted arm.

He sighed, "You know exactly what I'm talking about. And that's why I can say no. Because I know that there is a risk that I could hurt you. And I made a promise, remember? I keep my promises."  
"Sure, sure." I rolled my eyes, "Whatever you say."

Paul grinned now, "You're so sexually frustrated." He touched my face, "Someday, I will relieve you. I promise. But until then…I'm going to make you some lunch so you can get better." He quickly ducked out of my arms, and I stuck my tongue out at him as he disappeared into the kitchen.

I slept very well after Paul made me spaghetti-even eating regularly still seemed to exhaust me. After my nap, I woke up stiff. Paul was laying next to me- I tugged at his sleeve, "What time is it?"

Paul yawned a huge yawn, and I felt really guilty for waking him up. I knew that Sam had him doing something at night, but I wasn't sure what. Either way, he definitely needed more sleep. I was beginning to hate Sam for forcing Paul to keep late hours.

Even though Paul must have been super tired, he looked over at his watch, "It's 5:00. Wow. Almost dinner time." He pulled me close to him. I felt myself relaxing into him. I had absolutely no desire to get up, much less leave the house. My previous need to leave the house had completely faded, leaving me perfectly contented to stay cuddled up next to Paul.

Luckily, he seemed to feel the exact same way, rubbing my back gently and humming under his breath. "I think we should save our field trip for tomorrow." I told him honestly.

He smiled- I wondered if he was just happy that I was staying somewhere 'safe'. "Good idea."  
"But," I held up a finger and gave him a very stern look, "Tomorrow, we will be going to your house. No ifs, ands, or buts. Understand, young man?"

I could tall that he wanted to laugh, but somehow Paul managed to keep a straight face as he responded, "I'll pick you up at 9 tomorrow morning, after you eat breakfast. Deal?"

I gave him my hand, and we shook on it, "Deal."

The next morning, I was up at the same time as my father- aka, 6 am. It was early, but I was so excited- I couldn't wait! I was getting out of the house! Finally! And then there was the added plus of seeing that Paul actually existed in the outside world- sometimes I wondered if he was just a product of my imagination. He was mythical, after all. If my father and brother hadn't regularly acknowledged him, I would have been concerned that my pain medicine was causing me to hallucinate. Or worse, that the accident had done more brain damage than anyone had let on about.

As it stood, if Paul wasn't actually real to the outside world, that meant my brother and father were just as crazy as I was. Comforting, in a strange way.

I hobbled to the bathroom- ignoring the sharp pain in my leg and chest as I attempted to start the bathtub. I wasn't really supposed to get most of my bandages wet- even though there definitely were not as many of them by now-but I had been sponge bathing myself for the past few weeks anyway. It worked, and I always felt less smelly afterwards.

I decided to go a step further and wash my hair. I was lucky: my showerhead was removable, so I was able to bring it down to my head level. Still, it was messy: the bathroom was soaked by the time I was finished. I figured that Alex would clean it up- I'd just leave him a note or something. He had gotten good at the whole "Mr. Mom" cleaning up thing, especially when Paul wasn't around.

I dried myself off completely, wrapping hair in a towel. I'd deal with it later. Then I slipped on the blue plush bathrobe I'd been using to get from one room to the next without actually putting clothes on. It was comfy, and fit over all my bandages and cast.

I got to my room and collapsed onto the bed- showering had been exhausting! But there was no time to rest- I had to get dressed! I was actually going out of the house! Where there might be people looking! I needed something besides pajamas.

Unfortunately, my jeans wouldn't fit over my casted leg, and it was way too cold to wear a skirt or dress. I settled for some black stretch knit pants- they didn't look quite as sloppy as my sweatpants- a white long sleeve shirt, and a light blue vest. I decided to add a dark blue striped scarf, just for extra warmth. Plus, it was cute. I wanted to show Paul that I could actually look like a girl, after all.

After I was dressed- a process that took way longer than it should have- I brushed out my hair, wincing as I dragged it over my still slightly sore spot. The stitches had been removed a while ago, and my hair was beginning to grow back, but it still hurt. Vainly, I was still glad that they'd shaved the underside of my hair- I would have died if they'd made a mini bald spot on the top of my head.

I pulled out a blow dryer and began to dry my hair, but that was way too tricky- it exhausted my good arm. Instead, I just squeezed the moisture out of my hair with a towel, and hoped it would dry by the time Paul got here.

I glanced at the clock- it was already 8! How was that possible? It had taken me about 2 hours to shower and get dressed by myself. I shook my head, amused. If my father and Paul ever let me go back, this was not going to happen before school everyday.

I did some makeup, but gave up after a coat of foundation- the rain outside would just smudge whatever else I put on anyway. Then I hobbled downstairs, to find that my father had already left for work, and Alex had gone to school. But they'd left me a bowl of cereal out to eat- Captain Crunch, my favorite. I wolfed it down.

Just as I finished, the doorbell rang, and I jumped about a foot and a half. "Come in!" I called out, hobbling to the door in excitement. "I'm all ready for you!" Paul looked up and down at me, then his face broke out in a giant smile.

"You look beautiful." He told me, wrapping his huge arms gently around me.

I snuggled against him, "You're just used to seeing me look hideous, that's all."

He pulled my face up to look at him, "You've always been beautiful. You just look especially beautiful today." He motioned to my outfit, "You didn't do it by yourself, did you?"

I grinned, feeling proud. "It wasn't hard"

Paul shook his head, "And here I was hoping you'd take it easy for me." He looked concerned, "Now, you're sure you're feeling up to this? We don't haveta go today. We have a lifetime, and you don't need to get sick, you know….Maybe…" I placed a finger to his lips, silencing him.

"Shush." I told him. "We are going. No ifs ands or butts about it.." I gave him a severe look, wishing that I could stomp my foot for emphasis.

"Yeah…yeah…" he muttered, and, before I could say anything else, he had scooped me into his arms. "But I am going to carry you." I would have protested, but he was already walking. Plus, I didn't want to be exhausted when we got there. Heaven knows that getting ready in the morning was already taking its toll.

I settled for doing something goofy instead. "To the Awesomemobile, Youngman!" I announced, pointing forwards. Paul burst out laughing as he carried me out to his car.


End file.
